


The Weight of Dust

by camisadomg



Series: That History [1]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Pirate, F/M, M/M, Malec
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-13
Updated: 2018-03-25
Packaged: 2018-11-13 18:39:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 38,930
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11191017
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/camisadomg/pseuds/camisadomg
Summary: Two brothers, Alec and Jace, were the best pirates in the world. No other ship could defeat them, no other personal story could surpass theirs.At least, that's what the world thought.Magnus Bane was a pirate of no ship and no crew, but with skills far more mysterious than either boy could imagine. Bane's attempt to overthrow the brothers' ship lead to an impossible adventure, one in which Alec just wanted to go home.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Who's ready for a pirate AU!? I am!!
> 
> Note: I've tried to set this up in a style different from my typical YA-apocalyptic narrative. You know, witty dialogue, funny scenes, all of that. I had a lot of fun trying something new, and I hope it's not as terrible as it seems as I read through it.

Positioned high on the mast, a pair of old undergarments waved freely with the gusts of wind, undulating with the waves. This make-shift flag had been dyed a deep maroon that struck obtrusively against the blue of the sky, the blue of the water. The symbolic intent behind the laundry was to show a childlike rebellion, but really it had become a sign of despair and royalty. The owner of the underwear had, ironically, sworn off wearing underwear for as long as he ruled over the seas, which happened to be an insurmountable elapse of time. 

He had never meant to become the best pirate in the world, but the kid of only nineteen years old was never one to waste an opportunity. His first babbled word was, "Mine," and slowly the world became just that. Left to his own devices by a mother and father that were more worried about their reputation than their children, he grew into a protective, selfless boy who dominated possession without ever appearing greedy or insufferable. 

"We can purchase real cloth, you know." His right-hand man informed him after a few days of watching the underwear fly.

"I think it adds charm that other ships lack." He responded, smiling approvingly at the flag. His right-hand man was actually his brother, who had taken him in when they were both young, since his parents never noticed anyway. Where he had a striking halo of blond hair around his head, Alec's stark black hair attracted both the sun and the eyes of the fair-haired population. "Okay, Jace." Alec sighed, knowing not to argue with his brother as it always lead to him 'walking the plank,' which was really just jumping off the ship and swimming around to climb back on. A power move that frightened the other lackeys.

The best pirate in the world was really born Johnathan Herondale, though called Jace by his brother Alec whose full name was actually Alexander Lightwood. The nicknames were just another sign of rebellion; how unchristian, how informal, how shameful to abandon your given name!

Jace spit, then ordered someone to wipe the deck, earning a frown from his brother. Expecting a lecture, Jace was surprised when Alec declared, "I've been thinking about visiting home."

"Home? Why would you ever want to do that?" Jace asked before telling the poor boy who had actually started to wipe the deck to just go away.

Alec shrugged. "The sea's getting boring, I've got a girl back home."

Jace blanched. "You're not telling me you want to be serious with that girl."

"Of course I want to be serious with her!" Alec exclaimed. "I'm an adult now, Jace. It's time to think of my future. We're not kids anymore." 

"I know we're not kids anymore," Jace rolled his eyes. "But it must be hard to think of a future when you can't even stand to touch the girl you're with." Jace also wanted to inform his brother that he was not that old, being only a year older and just as unwise. But he kept that information inside.

Alec snapped around, eyes wide and jaw clenched. "What do you mean?"

"Come on, Brother. You're not fooling me. It's obvious you do not care for that girl as a man should." Jace laughed, finding his brother's defensive nature amusing. 

"Why would I marry her if not out of love?" Alec asked rhetorically, fighting the urge to punch Jace in the nose.

"Well, you haven't married her yet." Jace pointed out.

Alec leaped, crashing into his younger brother hard enough to send them both falling to the ground. "I've been at sea for the past year!" He yelled, then growled when Jace knocked him back.

"You don't seem to be in much of a rush to marry her," Jace taunted, smirking when his brother grabbed him by the collar of his worn shirt and tossed him aside. They wrestled for a bit, throwing aimless punches and shouting curses at one another while the crew watched on, not knowing whether they should intervene or if it would be best to let the match take its course. Eventually it died down, neither boy willing to take it farther than it needed to go. 

Alec stomped off angrily to his cabin, forcing himself to think of his girl. Her name was Lydia Branwell, and she was the daughter of a respected family of bankers. She knew Alec not as a pirate, but as a handsome adventurer, which implied almost exactly what a pirate was without the negative connotations. She had blond hair. But Alec couldn't remember what color her eyes were, for he had never spent much time gazing into them. He proposed to her the second time he saw her, stealing his brothers knack for claiming opportunity. "But I also love her," He said aloud, though no one was there to hear his claim.

Really, her family's money was the key to Alec's heart.

A good night's rest left Alec with enough energy to face the next day. His brother always stayed asleep well into the afternoon, waking only if there was trouble. There was never much trouble, though, as nobody wanted to test the greatest pirate in the world.

Alec heard a great racket coming from above, on the deck. Men were shouting, and metal was clashing. He threw his pillow at his brother to wake him up before bolting up the short steps to see what the commotion was. "I'm here test the greatest pirate in the world!" A man exclaimed, brandishing a decorative sword. He slashed away at the charging crew, proving to be quite the swordsman. Alec watched the man as he spun around the deck, easily taking down man after man, then realized he had forgotten to grab a weapon of his own in his hurry. "Jace," He called back down the stairs. 

His voice attracted the attention of the intruder. Rather than charging though, the tan man stared at Alec for a few moments, a curious look of appraisal on his face. Alec reached to his side, remembering once more that he had no sword. "You're an attractive one," The invader declared, swaying toward Alec with a small smile on his face. "Not very many pirates keep such handsome features."

The words stunned Alec, who was momentarily kept from attacking. "E--excuse me?" He blushed. 

The man chuckled, then lunged, sword held high and ready to crash down on the seemingly untrained Alec, who was actually trained by the best pirate in the world. Alec dove out of the way, snatching up a discarded sword from the deck. He hated fighting with weapons that he did not know, but he really didn't have the luxury to be picky in that moment. The stranger kept charging, swinging over and over, obviously confused as to why Alec was actually a good fighter. "Attractive and well trained, I see." He flirted, stepping back from Alec. "Are you the captain of this ship?"

Alec shook his head. "That would be my brother."

"And where is he?"

Alec smirked. "Sleeping, as usual." He tightened his grip on the sword, and ended the conversation with a great slash on the man's chest. It was not a deep wound, hardly a surface injury, but those bled the greatest. 

The man stumbled back, surprised that Alec had landed a blow. "I thought the captain was supposed to be the greatest fighter in the world?"

Shrugging, Alec lowered his weapon. "I let him win during practices." He said. "I don't want to deflate his ego, or else he'll make me walk the plank for real."

"You should show your skills," The man replied. "I hear the water is lovely this time of year."

Alec couldn't help but laugh at the man's joke. He wondered where such a handsome, strong, lonesome pirate had come from and how he had become so strong yet so lonesome.

"You are an excellent fighter." Alec called. "Perhaps you should be the one to deflate his ego." He nodded forward, and the man turned to see Jace running up the stairs to the second level, favorite sword in hand, knocking down anyone in his way.

"How fun," The stranger smiled.

Alec smiled back, then called out, "Jace, up here!"

Jace bounded up the stairs and jumped at the man, his methods much different from those Alec chose to fight with. Where Alec was subtle and stealthy, Jace was impulsive and forceful. He pushed the intruder back. "You think you could just take over my ship alone?" He asked, spit flying angrily from his mouth. "Where is your crew? What fool are you?"  
Alec noticed that the man was not fighting as hard as he had been a few moments earlier. He weakly deflected charges and did not push forward against Jace, instead let himself be backed up into a corner. "My name is Magnus Bane." He declared. "I do not have a crew, because I do not need one." At that point, he had been pushed all the way to the railing of the ship, tipping slightly over the edge.

"You fight alone, you die alone." Jace muttered, raising his sword to kill.

Sadly, Magnus Bane did not plan on being killed that day, and sprung into action. He dodged the swing and rolled away, clearing himself of the danger of falling off the ship. He began charging forward, and Jace was then the one being pushed toward the edge. His eyes were wide, but he quickly regained composure. Soon, the boys were in the middle of the ship, neither able to push the other back.

"This is tiring," Magnus called, soaked with sweat.

Jace, just as tired, nodded. "Our strengths seemed to be matched." He paused. "Care for a break?"

"I thought you'd never ask." Magnus smiled. A crowd had been watching, the dead cleared off the ship and the injured distracted from the pain by the spectacle taking place before them. 

Alec had retired to his room, the prolonged battle repetitive and boring. He knew his brother would not quit, and he knew the stranger would not let him. When the two came bounding into the room together, Alec immediately reached for his sword, but was surprisingly halted by Jace. "Brother, wait." He said breathlessly. "We are taking a break."

"A break?" Alec asked, still tense. "In the middle of a death match? Are you forgetting that this man invaded our ship?"

"I fear neither of us will be able to claim it." Jace laughed. Alec was annoyed. He let his annoyance grow. Suddenly he remembered the underwear flying in the sky, the spit on the deck, everything that his brother did out of confidence and cockiness. Alec grabbed his sword and stomped away. "Where are you going?" Magnus called, disappointed to see the boy leave.

"I'm walking the Plank!" Alec shouted. Jace tensed.

"Alec," He called. "Alec, this isn't a joke."

"Oh, but isn't it?" Alec spun to his brother, fuming. "Isn't everything? Nothing is serious with you, our flag is your dirty laundry for Christ's sake! I told you, I want to go home to my fiancée. So take me. I don't care what you do after that."

Jace visibly deflated. Magnus had been watching from the doorway, attention grabbed by the mention of a fiancée. "You seem to be the sane one here," Magnus said to Alec. "May I strike a deal with you?"

"Talk to the captain." Alec dismissed them, and went to the deck for fresh air. 

Many of the men had questions about what had just happened. "I don't know!" Alec ended up yelling at the crowd. "Whatever Johnathan decides is up to him, he never considers my opinions anyway, so why voice them?"

"We saw you fight that man while your brother slept." A crewman said. He was plump, with a bloody shirt and tangled beard. "Why have you never fought like that before?"

"Because there was never a reason for me to, until a single man came along and threatened the very existence of my ship." Alec said. "Now, please, let me sail in peace."

Someone called out another question, which erupted more questions from the audience. Alec groaned and went over to the railing of the ship, stood on it, and promptly dove into the water, swimming on until he was scooped up by the crew in a fish net.

Magnus Bane wasn't from the same place Jace was, he made that clear. His skin was tan and his hair the darkest black, showing genetics that had long been exposed to sun and sea and warmth. He was well polished, showing skill in the smallest of movements. "So you sail alone?" Jace asked, not very interested in his meal.

Magnus, however, was famished. "For the most part." He said, muffled by the food in his mouth. "Forgive me, I haven't eaten in three days."

"Why not?"

"Just because," Shrugged Magnus, taking another large bite of his meal. Jace was enthralled by the man sitting opposite him. He moved with the grace of an assassin, yet had the power of a knight. He seemed completely relaxed in the setting, sword cast aside despite the invasion he had attempted. "You and your brother are quite the fighters." He said finally.

Jace smiled. "Alexander and I have sailed together for years now, I'm sure you've heard of our reputation."

Magnus shook his head. "No, I haven't." 

Jace paused, smile fading. "You've never heard of us?" He asked.

"Not your names, though I assume you two are what makes up the single legendary _best pirate in the world."_ Magnus said. "When I attacked, I figured you were just another ship."

Jace felt dejected, having been sure that his face was just as recognizable as his name. Suddenly, Magnus pushed away from the table, having cleared the plate and drained his cup. "I fear I've grown bored of your company, Johnathan." He announced. "Where is your brother?"

Jace was at a loss for words. Never before had anyone, man or woman, grown bored of his company. "P--probably on the deck. Or the lookout, though I doubt he'd hide away while you're on our ship." Magnus walked away, and for a moment Jace was so wrapped up in his personal offence that he forgot that Magnus was an enemy. 

The scene Magnus saw upon entering the deck made him burst into laughter. Alec was fighting off the crew, every man trying to keep him pinned down yet failing miserably. He was soaked, evidently having just jumped off the ship. Magnus was captivated. Alec fought better than his brother, yet Jace took all of the credit. He couldn't imagine having to constantly live in someone's shadow, knowing your potential, and just never being recognized. "Unhand me!" Alec yelled.

"Sir, you can't swim in these waters, it's too risky." One crewman tried to tell him. 

"Have I repulsed you so badly that you'd rather face the sharks?" Magnus called out, earning the whole audience's attention. Many men raised swords, and Magnus remembered he left his with Jace. 

"Trust me, it's not only you driving me mad." Alec replied. "It's this whole goddamn ship!"

Magnus tilted his head, observing the wet man before his eyes. The water made his loose shirt cling to his body, and his trousers had been whisked away by the waves, leaving him in his underwear. Magnus was so caught up in the view that he didn't even hear Jace sneak up behind him, until he felt the sharp pang of a sword against his spine. "This little break that you've charmed me into ends now." Jace hissed. 

Magnus spun to him, smiling. "But it has just begun."

Jace growled and lunged at the man, knocking them both back, and they sprawled over the wooden planks of the ship. Jace hit the man with his fists, drawing blood. Alec paused in his own attempts to escape and watched the brawl. "This is ridiculous." He sighed. He stepped in the middle of the fight and separated the two boys, moving Jace to one side of the deck and Magnus to the other. "That's enough." He declared. "Neither of you are going to win. Magnus Bane, you're welcome to join our ship if you'd like, or leave." 

Magnus straightened the collar of his jacket. "I don't join ships." He said, spitting blood from his mouth. He had a bad cut on his face that Jace merely smirked at, though he was not in perfect shape either. Alec frowned. He had hoped that Magnus would join and make another fine fighter once he left. "I'll leave. Care to join, Alexander?"

Alec looked around, wondering why Magnus had asked him specifically. "Thank you for the offer, Mr. Bane." He said, carefully choosing his words to be as formal as possible. "But I have to get home."

Magnus hummed. "Well, if you don't mind taking me to the Abandoned Island, just drop me off and I'll be out of your hair."

"Perfect," Jace called as Alec said, "That island is not survivable."

Magnus just shrugged. "We'll see about that."


	2. Chapter 2

The underwear still waved proudly in the air, much to Alec's dismay. Though it pained him to see the garments fly, he focused on them to avoid watching Jace and Magnus bicker. The crew had cleared the deck in their wake, mysteriously discovering myriad jobs to pass the time on the usually lazy ship. "The underwear is _unique!"_ Jace shrieked, followed by Magnus pointing out that they really just showed that Jace didn't know how to do laundry. Alec decided that he had heard enough. Leaving the two men to their argument, he went back to his room to stare at maps and ponder his voyage home.

After being alone for only ten minutes, Jace exploded into the room, sending the door flying with enough force to cause wind to clear the desk of its maps. "That man is insufferable," Jace groaned.

Alec crouched to pick up the mess of papers, taunting his brother by declaring, "I think he's charming." The words brought a new look of shock on Jace's face, and he flung himself dramatically onto his bed. "I also _don't_ think that we should be giving him a ride to the Abandoned Island." He said, less out of provocation and more just plain honesty.

"Of course we should," Jace replied, voice muffled by the pillow he had buried his face in. "He attacked our ship. I was even surprised when you offered him a spot in our crew."

"He's a talented fighter," Alec rolled his eyes. "He would have made the best addition."

Jace rolled over and stared blankly at Alec. "Please don't tell me you're siding with this man."

"Of course not!" Alec exclaimed quickly, standing to move out of Jace's view so he could not see the blush rising on his brother's cheeks. "I just know that every person who goes to that island dies."

"He would have died here if you had let us continue fighting." Jace mumbled.

"I don't think so," Alec shook his head. It had been hours since Magnus had climbed aboard the ship and started fighting. The sun was low in the sky, painting the clouds red.

"We'll get to the island in only a few hours. I'm going to rest until then. Whatever you do while I'm unconscious is up to you." Alec declared, falling into his own bed and promptly falling asleep.

When he woke up, the ship was still in one piece, a surprise. Alec had expected at least one fire to have erupted while he dreamed. The got as close to the Island as possible before lowering the smallest boat into the waves for Magnus to row ashore. As it was being prepared, Magnus crept up next to Alec, startling the taller boy when he spoke. "So, handsome pirate, care to come with me?"

Alec avoided looking at him. "I--I beg your pardon?"

"You know," Magnus hummed. "Leave this ship and come on an adventure with me?" He was standing close enough that Alec felt their shoulders touching. He took a step to the side.

"I'm sorry," Alec said, voice strong and as cold as possible. "I can't leave my brother alone, Mr. Bane." 

"Please, call me Magnus."

"Magnus." Alec repeated. 

"Let me tell you something, Alexander," Magnus began, not caring if Alec wanted him to be formal or not. "It's not often that someone manages to land a hit on me, let alone draw my blood. Your brother may have held me off, but you actually caused damage. Why do you let him take the glory?"

"I don't want glory." Alec told him. "I simply want to help my brother." Alec didn't bother to elaborate on how he was speaking of his  _other_ brother, not Jace. 

Magnus nodded. "Well, I commend you." He put a hand on Alec's shoulder, the other boy flinching at the touch but not pulling away. Magnus opened his mouth to say more, but Jace interrupted with a shrill, "Walk the plank, Mr. Bane!"

Alec knew that his brother would have loved to make the man walk the plank, but could only  _accidentally_ trip the man on his way into the rower. Alec couldn't take his eyes off Magnus as he went, and Magnus stared back at him, a mischievous smirk on his face as his eyes dragged over Alec's body. Then he was in the ocean and paddling away, propelling himself toward the mysterious island with no hesitation. "Good riddance," Jace grunted. As soon as Magnus was out of sight, the crew visibly relaxed-- everyone except for Alec, who was still staring at the Island intensely, seeing the small dot of Magnus moving around the beach, clearly not dead yet. As the ship sailed away, Alec couldn't shake his thoughts from the repeated echo of Magnus' words, which caused a strange buzzing in his chest and stomach. Alec decided that strange pirates were no good, no matter how charming. 

"I need to get home, Jace." Alec called out, still feeling the burn of Magnus' touch on his shoulder.

"Not now, brother." Jace smiled. "Right now, we are celebrating."

"What is there to celebrate?"

"Whatever you want." Jace shrugged, going to find alcohol. 

The whole crew drank that night, more than they collectively had in months. It was a party of sorts, some celebrating for a reason and others just seizing the opportunity to get drunk. Even Alec drank, just enough to avoid the dangerous territory his wasted brother had entered, but still feel buzzed. His mind kept wandering to Magnus, and as Jace shamelessly fought crew members, Alec could only think of what Magnus had told him right before he left, until his only thought rested on Magnus.

Jace noticed that his brother was acting strange. He was distracted, turning down offers to plunder and fight in favor of hiding away in their room. While Alec had never been the eager attacker that Jace was, he still joined his brother on every mission. It had been weeks since they had been with the mysterious Magnus Bane, and Jace couldn't figure out was on his brother's mind. When he tried to ask, Alec just muttered something about wanting to get home. 

Grudgingly, Jace directed the ship toward the port town of their youth, informing Alec that they would finally get to go home. "Though I don't know why you want to go so badly," Jace added bitterly.

"I want to check on things." Alec said lamely.

"There's been no news of things needing to be checked on," Jace argued.

"That doesn't mean there's nothing to check on."

"Is this about that Branwell girl?" Jace asked suddenly. Alec jumped at the opportunity.

"Yeah, marriage." He said, heart thumping at the thought, though not in the same it had when Magnus spoke to him.  _Stop thinking of Magnus_ , he told himself. 

"Alec, you're my brother. If you say you love this girl, I'm not going to argue you on it." Jace said, though his tone suggested a want to argue. He wasn't a fool, Jace knew his brother better than any other person on the planet, and he could tell that he was not exactly eager to see the girl he claimed to love. 

The voyage was quick enough, and as soon as the docked Alec went off to their home. Knocking anxiously on the door, he rocked back on his heels as he wondered who would be the one to answer. With a squeak, the door caved and the face of his younger sister appeared, wide-eyed and perfect, just as she was left over a year ago. "Isabelle," Alec smiled, instantly relaxing into his sisters embrace. Jace came bounding over a hill and threw himself into the hug, creating a group commotion on the doorstep. 

"What are you two doing home?" She asked, cheeks pink with excitement. 

"We wanted to see everyone." Alec quickly said before Jace could expose him. "Where is mother and father?"

Isabelle frowned. "Father has been away for months, mother has taken up work in the market to pay for our suppers."

Alec's heart sank. They had been mailing home their treasures, but it still wasn't enough. "A-and Max?" He asked, scared to hear the answer.

Isabelle's eyes were wet. "He's hanging in there." She nodded, stepping aside to let her brother's in, locking the door behind them. "He's resting now, I'm sure he'll come down for something soon." She said as a polite way of telling her brothers not to disturb the youngest one's sleep. All three sat around a table, drinking tea and catching up. Isabelle had countless stories to share from her own adventures. She gushed about how she dared to step out in pants, a fashion she was sure the other women would pick up on. "It was so freeing!" She exclaimed. "And the looks from those ancient men were hilarious."

Alec and Jace laughed with her, glad to see that she was still enjoying her own rebellious youth. She began asking them questions about their own adventures, and Alec let Jace paint pictures of fabulous, honest lives that were nothing more than lies dressed up. As they all laughed over stories, there was a thump right above them, and they all fell silent. Little feet padded their way down the stairs, and the youngest face of the house showed itself. It was gaunt, dark circles hiding the youthful glow that should have covered his freckled face. "Oh, Max." Isabelle sighed adoringly of her youngest brother, Maxwell. The young boy was very surprised by the appearance of his brothers, and he stared for a few moments. Jace and Alec were just happy to see him up and about, even if he looked like he would fall over any second. Jace was tense, and Alec knew he wanted to go attack every other pirate ship out there to get all the gold and money possible, just to get the best medicine available.

The doctors were no help in Max's case, as they hadn't been able to diagnose a specific illness, and thus Max couldn't be given a specific, sure-fire medicine to be cured. He hugged his brothers, his tiny arms shaking with the effort of being raised. Despite wanting to help him, Max was one of the reasons the brothers never visited home. They were petrified they'd come back one day and the little boy wouldn't be there. 

He actually wasn't so little. Nine years old, Max stood at the average height. His illness just drained him, leaving him looking like a five year old that had been through a growth spurt. 

He begged to hear stories from his older brothers and they obliged, describing sword fights and jungle adventures galore, filling the time until the boy yawned and was sent to rest by Isabelle, who was close to crying by the end of the hour. No one spoke until they were sure that the small boy had gone back to sleep. "How helpful have our packages been?" Jace asked, referring to the sent treasure.

"Immensely," Isabelle nodded, smiling. "I don't know what he would be like if you two weren't earning so much from the global market."

The boys only felt a little guilty, but knew they were doing more good than harm in their lies. 

The handle of the front door shook, and it opened, showing their mother. She looked worn down, carrying a meager sack of loose coins and spare dollars. "Mother," Jace and Alec breathed simultaneously. Upon seeing her eldest sons, Maryse Lightwood dropped the sack and rushed to hug them. There was some warmth left under her beaten expression. She was caught up as Isabelle and Max had been, and her eyes glistened with pride. He almost-black hair was graying, and her sons felt the impossible urge to take over and protect everyone in their family from harm. They couldn't dare ask where their father was, knowing that they wouldn't appreciate the answer.

"Mother, I plan on marrying Lydia Branwell as soon as possible." Alec informed her. 

Isabelle snapped her eyes to him, forcing herself to show excitement. Maryse, however, was nothing but tears and hugs. "Oh, how wonderful!" She cried, pulling all of her children in to her arms. "You must go to her now, see her. You've been away for so long." 

Alec made the trek through town and knocked on Lydia's door. She was rich enough to support herself, one of the first women in the town to live independently. When she opened her door, a smile erupted on her otherwise blank face. "Alexander," She gasped, pulling him inside. Her home was modest, but still impressive for the time. "I'm so happy to have you home." She wrapped him in a hug and Alec moved in an automatic fashion to reciprocate, feeling cold against her warm body. He made sure to look at her face. Brown. Her eyes were brown. Magnus' eyes had been brown. Alec wasn't show how-- or even  _why_ he remembered that just then. "Lydia Branwell," He said quickly before he could chicken out.

Lydia's eyes sparkled, but the words felt trapped in Alec's throat. He tried to choke them out, but ended up throwing himself into an actual coughing fit, during which Lydia had to pound on his back furiously to clear his lungs. "Are you all right, dear?" She asked.

Alec coughed once more. "Yes," He managed. Lydia placed a hand on his cheek and a hand on his shoulder, and Alec's chest constricted. "I can't breathe," He told her. He felt panicked, like he did during the worst battles. With no sword in his hand, he felt naked. "I think I should be going home." He mumbled, stepping back so fast he nearly tripped over his own feet. "Jace and I-- we have an adventure to get on. I just wanted to see everyone first."

Lydia caught him by the collar of his dirty white shirt. "Alexander, are you alright? You're sweating awfully hard and you're pale as a ghost. Do you have a fever?"

"No," Alec told her. "I just have a lot on my mind." He got closer to the door. The sun was going down.

"Perhaps you should stay tonight," Lydia offered, voice low. Alec couldn't believe that the same woman's revolution that his sister was participating in gave them such sexual confidence. Lydia could not have been more obvious if she had said, "Take me to the bedroom." Alec felt sick. He forced a kiss on her cheek.

"Thank you for the offer, but I must get home to help my mother." Alec spun around and burst out of the house, sucking in the fresh air as fast as possible. "Jace," He called as he burst into the room, only to be shushed by his brother.

"Everyone's asleep," He exclaimed. "We didn't expect you to be home so soon. It's only been an hour."

"Jace," Alec repeated, though significantly more quiet than the first time. "I need to get to the Abandoned Island." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, as it turns out, I'm an even worse writer than I originally thought and I posted a 2nd chapter while I was still struggling to connect two major plot points, and after posting the chapter I came up with an idea that actually made sense to the story that I had imagined. I've never deleted a chapter before to post a new, different part of a story, and I'm a little embarrassed tbh. But I promise, I do know what the plot of my story is, I just had to figure out how I wanted to deliver it.
> 
> Sorry, that's definitely not going to happen again with this story! I was just excited to write and post.


	3. Chapter 3

The Abandoned Island was only abandoned due to a heaping pile of mistakes that lead then to fear. There were countless rumors that were not true at all. Magnus' favorite was that the Island was home to all of the spirits of the deceased, because at least then it didn't feel so lonely to him and his few friends. While it was true that many pirates and sailors and adventurers had died coming to the Island, it wasn't true that it was because of supernatural reasons. It was just pure human stupidity and recklessness. Well, maybe the human stupidity lead to a little bit of supernatural disasters.

He traipsed through the underbrush silently, heading toward the center of the island, where he had built shelter. On the opposite end of the Island he had anchored a second ship, just in case things went wrong with the first. He was sweating. He'd have to steal another back-up ship.

Just as the myths of the Abandoned Island were not entirely true, Magnus had not thought that the myth of the greatest pirate in the world would turn out to be true either. When he saw a modest-sized ship sailing lazily through the waves with nothing but underwear for a flag, he laughed and thought it would be an easy takeover. When not one, but two strong captains fought him off, he was rather disappointed. 

At least the dark-haired one had been attractive.

Magnus wasn't a fool, he knew that times were dangerous for men to seek out anything other than wives, so the boy's flustered rejection did little more than spur Magnus on. He had lived through countless eras of conformity and rebellion, something he'd be sure to detail to the boy if he ever saw him again. The truth was, Magnus could have very easily erased the captains and their whole reputation from history. If they had been boring, he would have. Instead, Magnus refrained from using magic on the crew. He couldn't erase such a pretty face from history, that would be a crime.

The Abandoned Island was not entirely abandoned. Magnus lived with a few other people who possessed the same powers that he did, though they all regarded him as the best on the island. He and his friends lived apart from the other humans that would otherwise burn them alive if their powers were discovered. It had been nearly a century since Magnus had last confided in a lover his special abilities, and he didn't see that changing anytime soon. 

"Magnus!" A familiar voice called out. Magnus turned toward the noise and saw his oldest and closest friend, Ragnor Fell, making his way through the vines and leaves. "Where did you sneak off to this time?"

"I didn't sneak off anywhere," Magnus rolled his eyes, though a smile finding its place on his features. "I went out sailing, looting."

Ragnor looked him over. "So where's the loot?"

"I couldn't get any loot," Magnus admitted. His friend quirked an eyebrow. "I ran into the greatest pirate in the world."

Ragnor scoffed. "That's just a myth made up in the network to scare the newbies."

Magnus hummed. It was rather dark out, so of course his wounds were not as noticeable. Using his magic, he lit up the scene a little. "You've known me for decades," He said. "And never has anyone managed to make me bleed. And yet that pirate cut me with his sword like I was a regular man." His artificial light shone on the gashes, making his friend pale.

"Perhaps you were distracted," Ragnor suggested, blinking at the wound like it was a specimen to be examined.

Alec's dark hair flashed in Magnus' mind, but he shook his head. "There was nothing to be distracted by." He quickly told him. Ragnor didn't quite believe Magnus but couldn't argue against his word.

"Why haven't you healed yourself?" He asked instead.

"I couldn't use my magic in front of them." He shrugged, continuing his walk towards their conjured homes, luxurious in the amazonian habitat.

"Of course you could." Ragnor said. "You could have burned them down."

Magnus winced. "Look, my oldest friend, my dearest companion--"

"Magnus," Ragnor sighed. "Please don't tell me you've been fascinated by another mortal."

"He was divine," Magnus began. Ragnor knew that when his friend went off on his attractions, he didn't stop until he had them. "He was like gazing into the heavens. And he was such a good fighter! I tell you, I have never been more turned on while fighting for my life."

"I did not need those details." Ragnor grumbled. They entered Magnus' home, a grand marvel of the century, fit for balls and banquets but mostly quiet day and night. Mostly. Magnus was known for using his powers to conjure up the lithest bodies and the loudest music of the times and bringing the Island to life. He snapped his fingers, making two delicate glasses of wine appear for him and his guest.

"Please don't pester me about how I use my powers." Magnus said before Ragnor could complain that he wasted his magic on alcohol and sex. "There are three things humans need to survive; food, water, and air. I, however, am not a human and therefore sustain myself with the finest loves and the tastiest wines."

"That's a very poetic way of speaking for someone who's sworn off poetry." Ragnor teased, sipping the alcohol slowly.

"I still blame that poet from forty years ago. I can't remember her name, but I swear she ruined the art of words for me for the rest of my infinite life." Magnus sighed, draping himself dramatically in his reclined chair, velvet lining cradling his body and relaxing his muscles. "Times are changing, I tell you."

"Are you giving up your piracy?" Ragnor asked him, sitting in an upright chair opposite him.

"Not until I get the treasure I originally went for." Magnus said, swallowing down the wine in one go and putting the glass aside. "I'm tired," He announced. "I haven't slept in years. I'll talk more with you after I sleep for a few days."

Ragnor chuckled. Magnus was always the dramatic, hiding his pains behind self-deprecation and sarcasm, even when the situation was not right for it. Ragnor was older than Magnus, though only by a century which was not a very long time for the friends. Magnus was quick to fall asleep, though Ragnor knew the peace wouldn't last long. Whoever it was that captured his friend's attention was sure to bring the Abandoned Island plenty of trouble.

~~~~~~~~

Alec didn't leave right away, though he didn't go to visit Lydia again. She went to him, drawing him out of his home for walks through the town, linking their arms and slipping her hand lower on his back, until he would have to act interested in some market product and put space between them. "Alexander," Lydia began one morning, while they strolled along the edge of the river. "Have I upset you somehow?"

Alec stopped walking. "What? Of course not, honey." The words tasted bitter in his mouth. It had been over a month since that day on the ship, and Jace was itching to leave again. 

"You just seem... distant." Lydia sighed, casting her eyes down. Alec didn't know how to comfort her. He cared about her, but Jace's words haunted him. He didn't care for her in the same way that his brother madly loved the girl two towns over with bright red hair and a burning passion to match it. Alec had never felt the things that Jace described as uncontrollable desire around Lydia. It was more of a panicked feeling, like he was messing up a very important business deal. 

"I--" Alec paused to choose his words carefully. "I'm going to be leaving soon, with my brother."

"Again?" Lydia asked, voice heavy with the tears she refused to shed. 

Alec nodded. "My brother is only getting more sick. We need to push harder, reach further in the economy and maybe--"

"Marry me." Lydia burst out.

Alec's heart threatened to leap out of his throat. "Excuse me?"

"If you marry me, we can be together and I can help your brother." She smiled. Alec wanted to yell. If Lydia really cared about his brother, she would help without needing a marriage. Alec knew that marrying her would be the smartest thing to do.

"Well, I can't have it known that you're the one that asked to marry me." Alec said, forcing himself to be as jovial as possible.

Lydia didn't pick up on Alec's angst and instead laughed loudly. "Then propose to me, you idiot."

Alec smiled, and then shook his head. Lydia's heart broke visibly. "I will," Alec quickly promised, reaching to tilt her head up to him. "But not until my brother and I return from this trip. It would be bad timing."

"Let's have the ceremony before you leave, then." Lydia argued, lower lip quivering. Alec knew that she would keep pushing. He took a deep breath and leaned down, kissing her lips and wondering how the simple touch could make her melt into him. It felt like nothing. After a moment he pulled away and said, "I won't rush that. It needs to be perfect." The words sounded so strained to him, but Lydia seemed ready to explode with joy. 

After that, they continued their walk until the hour was up and Alec excused himself to go see his brother. He walked home alone, and resisted the urge to splash the river water on his face and wipe his lips clean. "Jace?" He called out once he entered his childhood home. His brother was in the kitchen, eating something that Isabelle cooked him and pretending that her skills were actually edible. "Jace, I was wondering if you would be ready to return to our... sales."

Jace forced himself to swallow down the lump of whatever his sister had slopped in a bowl. "Yes!" He exclaimed, gulping down his ale to rid his mouth of the taste. "I mean... yes, Alec, I think that is the necessary thing to do."

Upstairs, there was a sudden coughing and the sound of their mother shushing a young boy's cries. "We should pack to go." Alec said quickly.

"How long will you two be gone this time?" Isabelle asked, hurrying to clean up the mess she made. "I wish I could go with you." 

"Next time," Jace smiled, though they all knew that she would really rather stay in case Max needed anything. "And you know that there is no definitive timeline for these jobs. At the most, I'd say no more than two months."

Isabelle sighed. "Better than a year," She laughed bitterly. Alec and Jace hung their heads.

"We'll leave in two days." Alec declared. "I'll get everything ready. I'm sure you want to say goodbye to that girl."

"Clarissa," Isabelle provided.

"Right!" Jace nodded, jumping up from his seat. "I tell you, brother, I'm going to marry her some day." He bolted out of the house, eager to get to his love. Alec felt dejected. He never felt _eager_ to get to Lydia. "What's wrong, Alec?" Isabelle asked. 

"It's nothing." Lied Alec, who knew it would be a very bad decision to confide in his sister his feelings of doubt. As much as she was a progressive thinker, she was still romantic at heart.

"Well, do you want to go say goodbye to miss Branwell?"

"We've already parted." Alec nodded, drinking from Jace's unfinished cup of beer. "I'm going to go talk to Max and mother."

He went upstairs before Isabelle could say anything else. Max was laying in the biggest bed in the house, covered in blankets and draped with cold wet rags, a paradox of sights but a necessary battle to be fought. Alec asked his mother into the hallway. "Jonathan and I are going out again, for two months at the most."

"How much do you think you two will be able to send home?" His mother asked hopefully.

Alec took a moment to think. While the Abandoned Island had been shrouded in warnings and death tales, there was also the apparent myth of an endless amount of treasures to be found by those able to survive the perils. "Hopefully, this will be the last time we have to scrape together money. I have a plan."

"Alexander," His mother frowned. "Don't do anything that can get you killed."

Alec smiled. "I'm only an honest man," He assured her. He then made his way into Max's room, taking a seat in the rocking chair next to the bed. It was too quiet in the room that should have been alight with a child's laughter and the scattering of toys. Instead, the curtains were drawn tight and not even his baby rattle remained in sight. "Buddy," Alec said gently, placing a hand on his brother's shoulder.

Max stirred awake, eyes lighting up at the sight of Alec. Then he frowned. "Are you and Jace going away again?"

Alec wanted to cry, hating that his little brother knew so much. "Yes, we have to go help dad with the business." He lied easily. 

"When will you be back?" He asked. Out of everyone, Alec hated it the most when Max was the one to ask that question. 

"You know the deal," He said. "There's no saying for sure. But you fight hardest when we're away, right?"

"Right," Max nodded, hair matted against the fluffed pillow. He coughed then, and Alec comforted him until the wave passed.

"You're the bravest fighter I know, braver than both Jace and myself." He smiled, keeping the tears out of his eyes as best as possible. "One day I know that you're going to be the one on adventures while your brother and I hobble around with canes."

They both laughed, though there was sadness in the air. Alec knew that those hopes were very unlikely to come true, and he hated that a child had to face that reality. "I'll be here when you guys get back." Max smiled, his parting words always the same. 

Alec left the room before he could start crying and went to gather his crew. The process was arduous and low-key, his men having to gather in secret to avoid drawing attention to their reputations. He started in the local bars, and in the next two days all of his men had returned, ready to sail again. The ship was restocked with provisions and there was an air of excitement on the boat. The waves were relatively calm, and when they left the dock, Jace disappeared into their room to avoid being seen. He never cried in front of his men. Alec commanded until his brother could appear again, and they set off to the first battle they could find.


	4. Chapter 4

The swords clashed together, the metallic tang of blood in the air and in Alec's mouth. He and Jace had ruthlessly ambushed ship after ship, taking what they could get and sending it home immediately. "Maybe we should expand," Jace suggested as he rolled away from a man's blow. "Go to new islands instead of the ones that we've conquered."

"We haven't conquered any islands." Alec muttered, pushing away the burly man charging him and swiping at his throat, drawing blood easily.

"Our reputations have." Jace laughed, jumping to the next attacker he could find.

"I told you, I want to go to the Abandoned Island." Alec reminded him, the man that had come to continue what his fallen shipmate had failed to do dropping his mouth in shock at the mention of the place.

"You're still hung up on that place?" Jace asked, stabbing his sword through a small man's chest.

Alec took a moment to fight off the new man, who was practically a piece of cardboard flapping in the wind, shredded by Alec's skill. "I'm not hung up," He insisted. "But if I survive, there is enough treasure there to surely cure Max."

Jace was momentarily detracted from his fight and the other man landed a scratch on his thigh, to which Jace groaned and swiftly killed him. "Alec, you're crazy."

There were no more men left to fight, so Alec and Jace looted through the ship before swinging back to their own with little prize for victory. "That pirate we took there a month back," Alec began once his feet landed on the familiar planks of his own ship. "He seemed very adamant about going there, and not very suicidal. There must be some secret there."

"Well, then I'll go with you." Jace said, sheathing his sword and moving toward the cabin.

"No," Alec said quickly. A little too quickly. Jace looked at him curiously. "Trust me, I'm nothing without your skill, but you need to stay back to continue looting in case I fail. We can't both die."

Jace frowned. "You can't die."

"I'm just a man. I can die." Alec told him.

"You're the best damn pirate in the world!" Jace yelled, slamming his covered sword down on the table. "If you think you're going to die on that island, there's no point in going."

"Of course there's a point." Alec argued. "The treasure there--"

"I know." Jace sighed. "We'll direct the ship there and be there in the morning."

The brothers laid down in their beds, weary from the battle. Above them, the feet of the crew members stamped around and the wood groaned against the swaying of the waves. Alec could tell that his brother did not like his plan, but also knew that Jace would not challenge it. He was a firm believer in choice, and would not force Alec to stay away from what he felt was best to do.

Hours into the late night, the sea started to churn. It had been a while since the boys had dealt with a storm, and the ships violent tilting woke them both by tossing them out of bed and smacking them onto the floor. They sprung into action, going to the deck to help keep the ship afloat. It was as though nature had been just waiting for them to wake up to really kick things into action. Jace and Alec were flung to and fro by the force of the wind and the rocking of the ship, but they stayed on their feet as long as possible. Water towered over the ship and crashed down, sending the brothers flying apart, Jace crashing into the wooden wall that raised the second level from the first, and Alec hitting the railing. The air was knocked from his lungs and water quickly rushed to replace it, and he sputtered against the salty drops.

Alec squinted against the stinging drops of rain and saw Jace staggering to his feet on the other end of the ship, before another wave crashed into them and Alec started falling. He saw Jace open his mouth but could not hear the scream over the noise of the wind and crashing of the waves. He hit the water flat on his back, which didn't help his breathing problem, and he was yanked under the current.

Adrenaline pumping in his blood, Alec kicked for the surface, breaking it and managing to draw in a shaky breath before another wave pulled him back down. He cursed mother nature, for they had to be only a few hours from the Abandoned Island, and if the storm had just held off, he would have easily found shelter there. If he survived the landing. None of that mattered then, as Alec was tossed through the sea like a doll in the hands of a baby girl. The salt burned his eyes and nose, and he couldn't see anything in the darkness of night. 

He was pulled under once more, and couldn't break the surface again.

~~~~~~~~~~

Ragnor yawned. The air was heavy with the humidity of the storm that had passed through overnight. Magnus emerged from his room, hair sticking up fantastically and eyes dark with sleep. "Hello, sunshine." Ragnor greeted, a teasing note to his voice.

"Don't you have your own home?" Magnus asked, too cranky to deal with his friend first thing in the morning.

"Yes, but the storms that pass are always a lot quieter in your vast library than my humble study." Ragnor said, sipping tea as always. Magnus wondered who even drank tea first thing in the morning. His stomach cramped at the idea of eating or drinking anything, he never could right after waking up. Ragnor was really waiting for his friend to sense that someone new was on the island, and after a few quick spells that straightened up his appearance, Magnus scowled at Ragnor and said, "You could have mentioned that our wards have been breached."

"Do you want to handle it this time or me?" Ragnor asked.

"I will," Answered Magnus, who had been growing tired of his parties and was ready to play with whomever decided to brave the Abandoned Island. Leaving his house, Magnus said good morning to a few other friends, who watched him eagerly as he made his way through the woods to get to the beach and scourge it. He could feel the intruders energy, and it was growing weaker by the second.

It was not hard to find the lump laying in the sand, soaking wet and unconscious. Magnus walked lazily to it, wondering how a body wounded up on his Island. It was male, and had dark hair a a very defined body... and it seemed very familiar. Gingerly, Magnus kicked it over with his foot and recognized the face of the handsome pirate he had fought earlier in the last month, and quickly dropped to his knees to check if he was still breathing. There was the faint hiss of air leaving the boy's cracked lips, and that was all Magnus needed to relax slightly. "What did you get yourself into, pirate?" Magnus asked to the knocked-out boy. 

Choosing to be decorative, Magnus lifted Alec into the air with his magic and brought him back to his home, much to the surprise of his friends, who were used to Ragnor and Magnus taking turns killing the humans that came to hunt them down on their Island. "What are you doing?" One woman named Dorothea asked.

"He's a friend," Magnus lied quickly. "Human, but still a friend."

"He'll kill us!" Another voice, a woman named Catarina called out.

"He's not really capable of anything at the moment," Magnus pointed out, opening his door with the wave of his hand and guiding Alec's body inside.

"Magnus, don't be stupid," Ragnor said, gawking at the body flying through the air.

"I'm not." Magnus smiled. "I'm having fun."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to Spain for the next week so I won't be posting at all until after!


	5. Chapter 5

There was the sound of waves crashing into the shore and the caw of birds as they flapped their wings through the rustling leaves. Through closed lids, the sunlight painted the unconscious red and orange. Salt water scented the air, and swallowed sand crunched between teeth. Waking up, Alec felt as though his head weighed ten times more than usual and every bone in his body was broken. The beautiful island description did little to change that. Blinking drearily, he sat up. When he squinted against the sunlight, he felt the burn on the thin skin of his face from laying outside unprotected for so long. 

Looking around, Alec realized that he was not actually outside laying on a cushioned bench underneath an opened window, and quickly moved to draw the blinds. Groaning against the pain of his body, he found the house he was in to be bigger than any home he had ever spent time in, even the rich ones that he and Jace had plundered together. The room he was in had to be the main gathering area, and the pillars shined with gems and gold that made him forget his pains and leap to his feet and search for items to stow away before looking for an escape. He found shelves stacked with items that sparkled with the promise of profit.

"What thanks for saving your life," A voice called from behind him. Alec jumped and dropped the necklace he had been examining. He whipped around and saw the face of Magnus Bane, slightly tanner than the last time they had met but still as decorated and familiar. Alec's heart fluttered, but he told himself it was due to embarrassment of being caught rather than excitement in seeing the man again.

"Where am I?" Alec asked instead of apologizing.

Magnus smiled. "This is my home." He said simply. "The one on the Abandoned Island."

Alec hadn't anticipated washing ashore on the legendary island, and he certainly didn't expect the pirate from so long ago to be not only alive but absolutely thriving on it. "This is your home?" Alec asked. "We're on the Abandoned Island?"

Magnus chuckled and turned around. Alec hurried to follow the other man as he walked. "There's a lot you don't know, oh great pirate." Magnus called, though didn't spare Alec a glance over his shoulder. "You can't imagine my surprise to find you half-dead on the sands of my beach."

"There was a storm," Alec supplied, finally catching up to walk beside the shorter man. "I was thrown overboard."

"Something tells me you were planning on coming here anyway." Magnus taunted, eyes sparkling mischievously. Alec had been absorbed in the decorations of Magnus's home, the lavish style with which the other man lived. There was only a small tint of jealousy in the bottom of Alec's stomach, but he was too floored with admiration to let the feeling overwhelm him. 

The two had made their way outside, to a garden area where foreign plants and bugs grew and buzzed. Magnus threw himself into a chair on one side of a small tea table and gestured for Alec to take a seat as well, which he did only after a slight hesitation. "How long was I unconscious?" Alec asked.

Magnus had reclined slightly, tilting his bronze face toward the warmth of the sun. Humming slightly, he shrugged. "A day, maybe? I wasn't really paying attention." Is what he told Alec, but the truth was really that Magnus had watched the other boy sleep for hours, amused by the peaceful look on the typically irritated features of Alec. 

There were many questions to be asked, and Alec didn't know which to ask first. He decided to steer clear of any personal conversation and asked about the island. "How are you alive?" He asked Magnus. "My whole life, I thought that stepping foot on this island meant instant death, and yet you seem to dominate the riches of this land."

Magnus smiled at the words, taking pride in surprising the other man. "Well, it usually does mean instant death. By my hands."

Alec took a second to process the words. "But this island is old-- surely older than you-- and the legends have existed just as long."

Magnus looked like he was deciding his words carefully. "Rumors have a way of getting twisted into myths." He eventually told Alec. It had been nearly seventy years since Magnus had last told a mortal about what he was, and he felt like at any second, Alec would be the next man to know everything that Magnus had kept hidden away. He felt that someone having the ability to make him feel that way was stronger than any spell he could ever cast. 

"Is that why you're such a talented fighter?" Alec asked next, forgoing the avoidance of personal questions. "Defending this island for so long must be excellent practice for pirating."

Magnus laughed, but Alec couldn't quite understand what was so funny. "I'm a good fighter," Magnus eventually said. "Because I've had to do it my whole life. I also have a few advantages over other men, but that's beside the point."

The secrecy captured Alec's attention. "What sort of advantages?"

Rather than answering that question, Magnus asked his own. "What kind of alcohol do you prefer?" Alec was surprised by the drastic change and simply said that he was not picky. "Great." Magnus smiled. He then raised his hand and snapped his fingers, and two glasses of red wine appeared before them. Alec jumped back, and began searching around for some hidden bottles that could potentially explain the appearance, even if only slightly. 

"Where did these come from?" He eventually had to ask, unable to find any answers on his own. 

"Alexander," Magnus smirked, sending a chill down Alec's spine. "You really think that for centuries this island has killed men on its own? No land has been able to keep out the invasion of humans."

"What are you saying?" Alec asked, afraid to taste the drink that had appeared before him.

Magnus, however, only gulped the glass down. "I'm saying," He began. "That the world is much bigger than you know. You and your brother have only controlled this sea between four large islands with a scattering of small lands here and there, but there is much more out there that you could ever see, even if you dedicated your whole life to doing so."

It was true that Jace and Alec never entered global waters, because to them the vast sea they crossed daily was the whole world. But he failed to see how that explained anything. Magnus continued on. "I'm not only referencing land. The creatures out there are vast and uncontrollable. I'm one of them--" He paused to wave his hand and refill his glass. "--And I keep this island free of the people that want to kill me. Which is everyone."

"You practice witchcraft," Alec finally concluded. But Magnus only laughed again.

"Stupid man," He shook his head. "I don't _practice_ witchcraft. I _am_ witchcraft. I'm a warlock. Our titles are actually very similar, you know."

Alec felt very small and very scared in his chair across from the man that was not exactly a man. "How so?" He asked, fighting to keep his voice even.  
"Well, people call you the best pirate in the world, and they call me the best warlock in the world."

The air was heavy, and it seemed as though the whole island had hushed, down to the chirping of the crickets vanishing from the background. Then Alec couldn't handle it and burst out laughing. He couldn't believe how mad Magnus was-- he had to be mad, talking like he did. It was all a joke, Alec was sure of it, so sure that he couldn't stop laughing. Magnus only grew more offended the more the other boy laughed. The situation became less funny when Magnus snapped his fingers and Alec's mouth snapped shut. Suddenly Alec felt cold, like he just realized that Magnus was dangerous. 

"This is not a laughing matter." Magnus said, voice freezing Alec in his place. "You came to my island and I spared your life, and now you want to try and make fun?" Alec quickly shook his head, eyes wide, unable to do anything as Magnus stood up. The other man paced around him, staring him down like he was ready to attack. He waved his hand and Alec could open his mouth, though he was still stuck in the chair. 

"I'm not making fun," He promised quickly. "It's just mad."

"Have I not proven it enough?" Magnus asked.

"Maybe I'm dead." Alec thought aloud. "I died when I was thrown overboard, and now I'm in some land of madness."

"You're alive," Magnus said, moving closer to Alec. He bent forward to whisper in his ear, breath tingling Alec's skin. "Only because I wished it. My friends want you dead."

"Friends?" Alec asked, unable to believe that there were more people on the island.

"Yes," Magnus answered, straightening up to pace again. "There's a whole group of us _mad people_ on this island, and everyone except me is ready to crush you with the snap of their fingers."

"Why haven't you then?" Alec challenged, slowly recovering his bravery.

Magnus paused in front of him, glaring down at the trapped Alec. "I saw how you looked at me on your ship." He said, and Alec could not look away to hide his blush. "I'm sure you saw how I looked at you. Be truthful, now, what are the other reasons you came to this island?"

“Treasure--” Alec tried to say, but Magnus shook his head and snapped his fingers and the words came pouring out of Alec’s mouth. “I wanted to see if you were still alive. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you on my ship and I wanted to take the opportunity to find treasure to find you as well.”

It was Magnus’s turn to be floored. He had been around for a while and knew how to read how people felt, but he hadn’t expected Alec’s truth to be so enticing. “Well, you’ve found me.” Magnus eventually said. “What do you want now that you know I’m alive?”

“What do you want from _me?”_ Alec asked instead of answering, too afraid to give Magnus the truth again.

“I think you wouldn’t be able to handle what I want.” Magnus said, smirking slightly and stepping toward Alec. He squirmed, finding that he could move again, but did not make any attempt to move away from the approaching man. 

Alec felt brave, ready to reclaim control over himself. “Try me,” He said, enjoying the way Magnus’s eyes flashed excitedly before he hurried to hide the emotion.

“Fine.” He said, and moved to Alec, lowering himself on the other boy’s lap and wrapping his arms over his shoulders, arching his lower half into Alec’s. Magnus then relaxed slightly and bent forward, bringing his face close to Alec’s, who was having a hard time breathing. He felt hot all over, and he wanted to shoot himself forward and kiss Magnus. He thought of Lydia and how he had never desired that from her, even when she would disrobe and throw herself at him. “Go ahead, then.” Magnus whispered, breath fanning Alec’s lips. 

“I can’t,” Alec said, unsure why he was still fighting. 

“Really?” Magnus asked, shifting slightly on Alec’s lap and drawing a gasp from the other boy.

“I--I have a girl back home,” Alec quickly told Magnus.

The other man’s eyes darkened at the admittance. “Oh,” He said, deflating and putting space between he and Alec’s faces. He didn’t leave his lap, not yet. “Is she... your wife?”

“No,” Alec answered immediately, then thought to add, “Not yet.”

“But you love her?” Magnus wondered, picking up on Alec’s situation.

“I...” Alec hesitated. “I’m not sure.”

“Hmm.” Magnus sat for a moment, drawing his fingers through the hair on the nape of Alec’s neck, making him shiver under his touch. Just as suddenly as he had sat down, Magnus stood back up and went to the other side of the table again. “When you know the answer to that question, let me know.”

Alec felt like getting up and following Magnus, but stayed in his chair despite the invisible force no longer holding him down. He quickly drank the wine that he had left untouched and closed his eyes tightly, trying to level out his breathing. “I have to go talk to some friends,” Magnus announced. “Feel free to explore my home, but don’t leave it until I can promise that my other warlocks will not kill you.”

Magnus left Alec with the warning that was cold enough to remove the blush from his cheeks. Alec stayed in the seat and counted to ten, giving himself plenty of time to lose the other man and not be tempted to throw himself at him. He got up then, and went back inside. He found the house to be as large as he had imagined, with two floors and rooms big enough to hold a hundred people in total. Alec felt the aching sense of loneliness in the house the Magnus lived in alone. It was impossibly clean and showed no signs of another person sharing the space with him, which didn’t surprise Alec after Magnus’s behavior just hours earlier. 

Eventually, Alec landed himself in Magnus’s grand library. The books stacked to the ceiling and Alec wondered how one man could ever have enough time to read all of the volumes that taunted him. He got lost in the rows for hours, pulling out book after book and flipping through them lazily, skimming the stories that told both of made up worlds but also history and science. Alec found a few books that were in languages he could not read, and reminded him that Magnus was not a mortal man. There were illustrations for potions and the occasional pentagram that made Alec fearful due to his upbringing, so he would quickly move onto the next book he could find. 

It was late before anyone came to find him, and Alec was only disappointed to see that it wasn’t Magnus who greeted him. “Hello,” A voice said from the doorway to the library. Alec jumped and slammed the book he had been absorbed in shut, facing the intruder. She was female, with dark black hair that flowed down to her waist and reminded Alec of his sister with a pang in his heart. “My name is Dorothea.” She said.

“Alexander Lightwood,” He introduced himself. 

“My, you _are_ handsome.” She marveled, entering the room. “Magnus sure wasn’t exaggerating-- and that’s his specialty.”

Alec blinked, ignoring what the woman had said about Magnus. “Are you-- Magnus told me that everyone here is a warlock.”

“Yes, I am too.” Smiled Dorothea, knowing that Alec must be special if her friend was confiding his secrets in him. To show him, she conjured her favorite book in the library into her hands without moving from her spot, and Alec was less afraid of the show than amused, quite the change from how he had felt just in the morning. “You know, Ragnor and Magnus have never spared a mortal life that has stepped on this island.” She said. 

“So he tells me,” Alec nodded.

Dorothea tilted her head, amused smile on her lips. “Magnus argued hard against the rest of us to keep you alive.” 

“Did he lose?” Alec asked. “Are you here to kill me?” He tensed, but the woman only smiled and shook her head.

“No,” She told him. “I’m here because I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. Now I understand. You’re quite the looker, Mr. Lightwood.”

Alec didn’t know what to say, but he luckily didn’t have to come up with anything because Magnus’s familiar voice came calling down the hall. “Dot, leave the man alone!”

Dorothea, who must have been called Dot by her friends, laughed. “I’m not saying anything bad!” She laughed, spinning to greet Magnus as he came through the library entrance. 

“It’s late,” Magnus replied. “I’m very tired now, thanks to you and everyone else that wanted to debate me.”

“You can’t blame us.” She shrugged. “Humans have a history of being untrustworthy.”

Magnus sighed, but nodded. “Look, I’ll introduce him tomorrow to everyone. For now, it’s probably best that we all get some rest.”

“Whatever you say,” Dot smiled. “I’m sure you two will get _plenty_ of rest.” She left after throwing Magnus a wink, and he watched her go with a look of slight annoyance.

“My apologies for my friend’s teasing manner.” He said to Alec. “I see you’ve discovered my library.”

“You have quite the collection,” Alec nodded, glancing at the shelves of books once more.

“Well, I’ve got nothing but time on my hands.” He said, and Alec couldn’t help but hear a slight sadness in the other man’s voice. “I’m going to bed. Let me show you your room, and then I’ll leave you to your own devices.”

“Al-alright,” Alec nodded, standing and ready to follow Magnus. They walked up the flight of stairs to the second floor and Magnus led him to an unmarked door that opened to reveal a huge bed decorated with plenty of pillows and blankets that made Alec feel suddenly very tired. 

“If you need anything, I’m right down the hall.” Magnus told Alec. Alec almost was expecting Magnus to invite himself into the room, but instead seemed a little more distant than he had been earlier, both physically and emotionally. 

“Thank you very much, Magnus.” Alec spoke earnestly. They stood for a moment outside of the room, neither one wanting to be the first to move away. Eventually, Magnus yawned and excused himself, and Alec watched him walk all the way down the hall and disappear into another room. 

Alec wanted to stay awake to think, but upon collapsing into the endless bed, he fell asleep before he could even reflect upon the book he had been reading. 


	6. Chapter 6

Gossip was spreading through towns at practically the speed of light, the people whispering about the Greatest Pirate in the World and how he seemed to be going on a rampage. After the terrible storm that had his such a large portion of lands, there seemed to be even more robberies and killings by the man that had slowly calmed down over the years. Everyone was fearful that he would leave the seas and start entering towns to pillage and take more than he was accustomed to. What they didn’t know, was the the Greatest Pirate in the World was frantically searching for his brother that had disappeared into the sea due to the terrible weather. 

Jace was frantic. He searched island after island for any trace of Alec, but only continued to come back empty-handed. He had come to the conclusion that his brother was dead, and the conclusion broke his heart more than anything else in the world. He had told Alec not to die, and his brother went and did just that. 

He didn’t think about checking out the Abandoned Island, too fearful to risk dying as well and leaving Max alone. So he turned things up a notch, speeding over the waters and brandishing his sword almost carelessly in the absence of his brother’s control. He even left the seas that they had dominated for so long and fought new, bigger pirates that had been eager to slay the legend-- only to be slayed themselves. Jace sent home treasure after treasure, knowing that it was more than enough to take a break and go to his family for a bit, but he couldn’t stand the thought of greeting them without Alec, and then delivering the news that Alec was gone. 

“You’re going to burn yourself out,” A shipmate told him one night, after Jace had commanded that the ship continue on to the next enemy with hardly any time for a break.

“I can’t stop.” He simply said, standing at the railing and keeping his eyes on the water that was sliced apart by the point of the ship. Jace craved vengeance for his brother, but knew that there was no one man that he could kill and gain peace from. So he killed many, in hopes that someday it would be enough. 

There were times when the ship had to stop in a town and refuel on supplies, always under the disguise of a produce ship. Crew members would bring back news to Jace about his family, and as long as Max was still alive, he kept going. “Any news today?” He asked one man that had returned early from their stop.

“Do you know a girl named Clarissa Fairchild?” The man asked. Jace dropped what he was doing and turned to the man, heart hammering.

“Why?”

“She’s asking for you, says she knows your ship.” The guy shrugged. “She’s at the market--” Jace didn’t let the man finish, instead racing toward the home of the girl he loved.  
She had been at the market, and it took almost an hour for her bright red hair to come into sight over a hill as she tightly gripped the basket of her day’s purchases. Her head was turned down against the sun, and she did not see Jace until she nearly crashed into him. 

“Johnathan,” She whispered, dropping the basket and running to him, wrapping her arms around his neck and letting him spin her around. “I knew I saw your ship dock, what are you doing here?” She asked, eyes watering with tears of joy.

“I’m sorry,” Jace said. “I didn’t know we had docked in your town or I would have come to you immediately.” He did not let go of her hands, and she quickly picked up on his tenseness.

“What’s wrong?” She asked, cupping his cheek and pushing his wild hair out of his eyes. Jace darted his eyes around, always aware of the other people watching, refusing to cry outside in case someone knew his secret and gossiped about his emotions. Clarissa-- who Jace fondly called Clary-- picked up her basket and guided him into her home. She lived with her mother, who was an artist that made a great living in the markets among the people that adored her work. “Talk to me,” She insisted once the door was closed tight.

“Is your mother home?” Jace asked, voice wobbling dangerously.

“No,” Clary told him. Jace didn’t want to cry in front of her either, but he felt like he was going to explode. “Jace, don’t worry about her, you know she accepts you completely into our family. Now what is bothering you?”

“My brother,” Jace finally said out loud, the words bringing with them a great deal of emotion.

Clary gasped. “Oh no,” She cried. “Is Max alright?”

Jace pressed his lips together and shook his head saying, “No, n--not him.”

Clary was obviously confused. “Alexander?” She asked. Jace flinched at hearing his brother’s name. His throat was closed too tight to talk, so he simply nodded and clenched his jaw, fighting just a little longer against the tears. “What happened with him?” 

Finally, Jace let out the breath he had been holding and sobbed. Clary took him into her arms and led him to a couch where she gently held him until he could gather enough of himself to speak. “There was that storm,” He sputtered. “We were on the sea, traveling for our father’s business--” Not even Clary knew the truth of her love. “--And Alec was thrown overboard. I couldn’t look for him until the storm cleared and by then he was gone.” Clary waited patiently. “Clary, he’s dead.”

Clary gasped and pulled Jace into her tightly, kissing is cheek and crying a little too. While she and Alec had never been extremely close, they were practically family. “Oh, Jace.” She sighed, rubbing his back gently. “How’s your family?”

“They don’t know,” Jace admitted, burying his face into Clary’s neck. “I’m so afraid to tell them.”

“You can’t leave them just thinking that he’s alive.” Clary told him.

“Why not?”

“Because you will eventually go back to them. You will. They deserve to know.” She nodded.

“What about Max?” Jace asked. “I’ve been sending so much money, but he’s so sick, Clary. The news will kill him.”

Clary flinched at the thought. “Let me come with you.” She said. “I’ll help deliver the news, or at least be there to support everyone.”

Jace nodded. Clary had never met his family before, but he knew he wouldn’t survive the coming days without her. He kissed her and whispered, “I love you so much.”

“And I love you.” She responded. “But before we go, you should get some rest. You’ve obviously had a lot wearing you out.”

Jace shook his head. “Clary, no. There’s something I need to tell you.” He braced himself, hoping that she would not run away. “If you come with me, you’ll find out anyway. I’m not who you think I am.”

Clary tensed. “What do you mean?”

“I--I’m not an honest businessman following in his father’s footsteps. In fact, I haven’t seen my father in more than a year.” He began. Clary held his hand while she listened, grip impossibly strong. “You’ve heard of that jerk, the greatest pirate in the world?”

Clary nodded, eyes unblinking and never leaving Jace’s face. “Well, that’s me.” He sighed. “Uh, me and Alec.”

Silence stretched between them, and Jace was worried that Clary would get up and leave, or push him out of her home. “You’re a pirate?” She asked.

“Yes.” Jace nodded.

“You’ve killed people?” She asked. 

Jace quickly said, “Only so they wouldn’t kill me.”

Clary didn’t know what to think. Jace prepared himself for the coming moment where she would look at him with nothing but hatred in her eyes, but she seemed more confused than anything. “But your father’s business--”

“I don’t talk to my father,” He told her. “He’s never around anyway.”

Clary stood from the couch and Jace felt cold without her near. She took a deep breath and said, “Well,” and Jace couldn’t quite read whether or not she was done with him. “Stand up, Johnathan.” She said. Jace didn’t like hearing her use his full name. He did as she commanded but could not look her in the eye, hanging his head shamefully. She grabbed him gently under the chin and made him look at her. “Answer me honestly.” She demanded. “You do this to help your brother, right?”

Jace was quick to nod. “Keeping him alive is my only goal. The reputation that has come with it was not my original intention, it’s just been more rewarding.”

Clary took in his words. “When I go with you,” She began slowly, and Jace felt relief flood through him at the fact that she was not leaving him alone. “I will not be doing any pirating.”

“I would never ask that of you.” Jace said honestly. “When your on my ship, that’s all it will be. A mode of transportation.”

Clary nodded and closed the distance between them with a kiss that made Jace feel like he could do anything. She let Jace sleep in the spare room while she packed a small bag to take with her, before crawling under the covers next to him and letting him wrap himself around her, his tears soaking into her shirt as she gently carded her fingers through his hair. 

Some time after he had fallen deeply asleep, Clary heard her mother coming into the house, calling out to her daughter. Clary untangled herself from Jace and rushed down the stairs, shushing her mother. “What is it?” He mother asked, voice falling to a whisper.

“It’s Johnathan.” Clary told her. 

“He’s here?” Her mother smiled, fond of the boy that had stolen her daughter’s heart.

“Yes, he’s asleep.” Clary nodded. “Mother, I told him I’d go with him to see his family.” Her mother tensed at that, but Clary continued on before she could argue against it. “His brother has died-- Alexander. He needs someone there for him when he goes to tell his family.”

Her mother was reluctant to let her daughter go, but after Jace had woken up and promised to take care of Clary and bring her home safely, she was more than wooed by Jace’s charm. “You two just be careful.” She said, tears in her eyes. “And have a safe voyage.”

They slept the rest of the night, in separate rooms only to comfort Clary’s mother, before leaving early the next morning. 

Clary gingerly stepped aboard Jace’s ship. She saw bearded, gruff men milling about, spitting and clashing swords together playfully. “Men,” Jace called. “Act respectfully, there’s a lady on board.”

The men turned at the announcement and gawked at Clary. None of them had known that Jace was seeing someone, but quickly understood why he never invited back women like the rest of them when they were docked. He led Clary below the ship to the cabin room he had shared with Alec. The curtain was drawn around his brother’s bed, Jace not being able to look at the empty mattress every night. “So, greatest pirate in the world,” Clary said, bouncing herself down on Jace’s bed. “This is where you sleep?”

Jace nodded. “I have to go talk to my crew. You can wait here, if you want.” Jace left Clary below to inform the other men of his plan. Everyone nodded respectfully. “We’ll be taking a long break.” Jace told them all, and could see that plenty of them were happy to hear the news. 

The sail home seemed to go by faster than ever before to Jace. He slept the two nights it took to get there with Clary, turned away from Alec’s old bed and face buried into the crook of her neck. They passed the days on the deck of the ship, taking in the sun and watching the ocean go by. Jace even taught Clary how to wield a sword, though she swore against ever actually having to use it. When they finally docked, the crew was quick to clear out and resume their normal lives. They loved pirating, but everyone had a family at the end of the day.

Clary was eager to go, but saw that Jace was hesitant. She called to him, and, holding out her hand, walked with him ashore. Jace took a deep breath and guided her through the streets and up the final hill that led to the small wooden door of his home. It was far more meager than Clary’s lavish home, but that was the last thing that Jace was worried about just then. Gingerly, he raised a hand to knock on the door.

Isabelle was the one to answer it, as always, and it was evident that she was surprised to see her brother back so soon from his trip. “Jace?” She asked, and it was impossible to not see how she searched for Alec. Instead her eyes landed on the red-headed girl before her. “Who’s this?”

“This is Clarissa Fairchild, the girl I’ve spoken to you and mother about.” Jace introduced.

“Nice to meet you, Ms. Fairchild.”

“Please, call me Clary.” She smiled.

Isabelle laughed lightly. “I see my brother’s influence has gotten to you.” She stepped aside from the entrance and said, “Well, please, come in you two.” They walked passed the small living area that was darkened from lack of use. There was no relaxation in the Lightwood house, no lounging among furniture and gossiping. Isabelle offered ale to the two and sat at the worn wooden table that served as their meal spot. 

“So, Jace,” Isabelle said after a moment. “Where is Alec?”

Jace swallowed hard, gulping down his drink. “Is mother home?”

Isabelle quirked an eyebrow, sensing her brother’s tenseness. “She should be back from the market any moment now.” After she spoke, the front door jiggled open and their mother appeared, hair a disarray of scattered grays as she dragged in her pouch of that day’s earnings. She didn’t notice her son at first, and immediately yelped with surprise and joy at his sight. “Oh, Johnathan! It’s so good to see you.” She exclaimed, running to embrace him. “Where’s your brother?”

Jace pulled away from his adoptive mother and sat back at the table, unable to keep up appearances. Clary stood at his shoulder, not even noticed by Maryse Lightwood, who could only focus on her one son’s absence and the other’s somber air. “Johnathan.” She repeated, significantly less enthralled.

Jace stared hard at the table and told himself that he wouldn’t cry. “Mother, there was a storm.” He forced himself to look at his family, knowing that they deserved his support and strength. “It was so violent, and Alec, he was-- he fell overboard.”

Maryse and Isabelle Lightwood flocked to the table, feeling the strength leave their legs. Finally, Jace choked out, “I couldn’t find his body.” Pause. “He’s dead.”

Even in the darkest times, the Lightwood family had never cried as hard as they did then. They had been preparing for years for the loss of a son, but that son was never supposed to be Alexander. Isabelle and Maryse cried together while Jace held them tight, keeping himself composed only for their sake. Clary stepped back, giving the grieving family some space. After what felt like an eternity, Maryse sniffled and said, “We can’t tell Maxwell.”

“What do you mean?” Jace asked.

“The news will kill him, I’m sure of it.” Maryse stuttered. “I can’t lose another son.”

“He’ll wonder why Alec isn’t with me.” Jace said, trying to keep his voice gentle. 

“We’ll just tell him that Alec had to stay with father,” Isabelle supplied, eyes ringed with red from her tears. “I agree with mother.”

Jace wanted to argue, but simply nodded his head. If Clary and his family thought that keeping the terrible news from their youngest was the right thing to do, then he couldn’t disagree. He couldn’t lose his only other brother after Alec. 

It was a hard night for the family then. Jace went to Max and smiled through the visit, keeping the tears away for a few hours until the young boy fell back asleep. He was brightening, the money from the last months sailing treating him well. The improvement made Jace momentarily forget his pain, but he knew he could never really forget.  
While he had been visiting Max, Clary had talked with Isabelle and Maryse, introducing herself and listening to stories about the brothers being told through sobs and sad laughter. She cried with them, the pain of death a universal tragedy for all bystanders. The house didn’t sleep that night, and it was a while before anyone could rest in the space that was missing one soul.


	7. Chapter 7

Waking up was just as, if not more painful the second day after nearly drowning than the first. For a few wonderful moments, Alec thought that he was home with his family, only to breathe in the smell of a foreign bed and remember everything. He sat up, breathing heavily. He found a large dresser and threw on a loose shirt that tucked into pants, and slowly crept into the hallway. He felt disgusting, the smell of the sea clinging to his skin and making him itch for a bath. He wandered until he found a bathroom, and eagerly filled the waiting tub with hot water. He sank into the liquid and let it melt his tense muscles as he washed the grime from the past few days away. 

There was no routine in Magnus’s house, which Alec quickly came to learn. What he expected was the warlock to be hovering around him at any given moment, but instead the man hardly seemed to acknowledge Alec’s existence. He didn’t know whether to be relieved or offended at the sudden change. The first month on the island was spent circling around each other, orbiting like planets around a sun-- though that science was far away from their time.

Eventually, Alec began exploring the island. He had tried to figure out on his own where the legendary treasure could be, but was beginning to think that, just like the horrors, the wonders were fake rumors spread by scared humans. Magnus’s friends weren’t much help to Alec either. They would stare him down whenever he ventured out of the house, their fingertips sparking and threatening something that Alec would never be able to understand. So, he kept to the outer edges of the island for the most part. The beach isolated him from the small cluster of blasphemy in the middle of the island, and the waves reminded him of his brother and the family that he missed with his whole heart. 

One afternoon, only two months after the storm that had crashed him into the island, Alec hopped precariously over the scorching sand that had been baking under the sun to cool his feet in the ocean water. Unbuttoning his shirt, he walked along the edge of where the ocean meets the land as if he were balancing precariously on a tightrope, trying to think of any rumor he may have heard whispered about the treasure and its supposed hiding spot. 

“Is this where you’ve been spending the days?” Magnus’s voice called out. Alec flinched from his little balancing game and looked over, seeing the other man shirtless and taking in the sun. Alec blushed and hurried to button up his own shirt, which he had opened to help stay cool. 

The two hadn’t talked after that first day. “It passes the time.” Alec called back, looking down at the surf once more. “Reminds me of home.” Suddenly Magnus was closer, standing almost in the wet sand. “Doesn’t that burn your feet?”

Magnus glanced down as though surprised by the hot sand beneath him. “I don’t feel it.” He shrugged. “It’s been months, you know.” He said suddenly. “When are you planning on finding this treasure that you so desired?”

Alec frowned. “I have no clue where to begin looking.” He admitted, only slightly embarrassed. “Nothing about this island has lived up to the whispers I have heard my whole life. I half expected the island to be made out of gold, and yet all I’ve seen is sand and dirt and water.”

“You’ve seen some treasure,” Magnus said. “At least, I like to think that I’m as visually appealing as gold is to most men. And women. I’m not usually picky.”  
Alec’s head felt fuzzy. He couldn’t understand Magnus’s comfort with the subject. “I worry about my family.” He told Magnus to distract from the comment about his

appearance. “If I can’t find this treasure-- I don’t even want to think about it.”

Magnus paused for a moment, his cheeky attitude softening a little bit. “Perhaps we can explore the island later.”

“I’ve searched every inch.” Alec said, kicking at the sand and sending clumps spraying.

“Obviously not every inch.” Magnus told him. “You haven’t found my treasure yet.”

“Your treasure?” Alec asked.

“Like I told you,” Shrugged Magnus. “I’m the greatest warlock in the world, of course I have a collection.”

“You could just lead me to it!” Alec exclaimed, only to earn a frown from Magnus.

“And why would I just give up my treasure to you?” He asked. “No pirate in his right mind would lose his treasure without a fight.”

“Then I’ll fight you for it.” Alec challenged, forgetting for a moment Magnus’s powers.

“We both know that a battle would get us nowhere.” Magnus said. “And now that you’re on my island and know my powers, there’s nothing stopping me from using them.”

“You’re right.” Alec relented. Without thinking, he unbuttoned his shirt again and tossed it to the sand before he could doubt himself. He went further into the water, until his rolled-up pants started to get wet. “It’s been months.” He said, mostly to himself. “I don’t even know if my brother is alive. If finding the treasure would even help him at all.”

“Your brother seemed very capable to me.” Magnus called from the edge of the water. Alec glanced over his shoulder.

“Not Jace.” He said. “I have a younger brother, a boy named Maxwell. We call him Max. He likes to be like his older brothers.” A sad smile tugged on Alec’s lips, and he blamed the tears in his eyes on the salt water being blown into them by the wind. He went further into the water, it had been gradually warming up as the days passed. When he was deep enough, he dove into a wave head-first and let the undercurrent sweep him out until he couldn’t touch the bottom. Alec spent a few minutes treading water, Magnus a small figure on the edge of the waves. Why didn’t he swim as well? Alec turned away and tried to enjoy his time in the water, but he had too much on his mind to truly have fun.  
Rocking with the waves, Alec slowly made his way back to Magnus. “Care to join me?” He offered. He was thinking about approaching Magnus in a more friendly manner, since he knew that he could not defeat the other man and forcefully take the treasure away.

“I don’t swim, thank you.” Magnus replied with a curt nod.

Alec questioned the answer. “Aren’t you a pirate by trade?” He stepped closer to the other man. “You spend your days surrounded by water.”

“I don’t go in it.” Magnus said quickly. “I don’t swim. Ever.”

“And if you were made to walk the plank?”

“I’d fly away.” He said simply. Alec didn’t ask if he could really do that, he just believed whatever Magnus told him. Instead, he smiled and held out a hand. Magnus stared at it. 

“Just a few steps, not too deep at all.” Alec offered, stretching his hand just a little more. “Don’t you trust me?”

“No, not really.” Magnus frowned, staring intensely at Alec’s hand. “I told you, I don’t swim. That’s not going to change just because a pretty boy seduces me into the water.”

Alec faltered. “I’m not-- I wasn’t--”

Magnus rolled his eyes. “I know, Alec. You have a wife back home, you would never admit your feelings for me because I just happen to be a man like you--”

"She's not my wife yet," Alec told him. “And how can you be so blatant about these things?” Alec asked, hand dropping back down to his side like dead weight. “It’s-- It can’t be right.”

“But plundering is?” Magnus countered, eyes icy. “Running around with your brother and stealing, that’s alright but doing something that feels good and harms no one is a sin?”

Alec bit his tongue. While some time had passed between them, they hadn’t spent more than seventy-two hours talking to each other. “My family--”

“Your family is miles away, Alexander.” Magnus sighed. “I don’t know if you’ve realized this, but you have a life of your own to live.”

Alec suddenly felt very cold in the warm ocean water. He walked to the sand to stand under the sun and warm up, but he couldn’t stop shivering. Eventually, he turned back to Magnus, who was still facing the horizon. “Shall we go exploring now?” Alec called to him, eager for a change in topic.

Magnus glanced over his shoulder. “I thought you’d never ask.” 

Traipsing through the sand, Alec picked half the beach on his wet feet. Grimacing at the wet sand following him, he wiped them off as best as possible on some grass before even considering putting his bulky shoes back on. Magnus looked on, slightly amused by the boy's struggle, before relenting and drying his feet with a snap of his fingers. Sheepishly, Alec muttered a thank you without looking at him. They walked in silence until Magnus broke it by asking, "Do you still fear my magic?"

"Fear isn't the right word." Alec told him. "Nothing about you makes sense, Magnus Bane." Magnus frowned at that, slightly offended. Alec caught the shift in mood and quickly said, "I mean, in my world. What I grew up with. Magic and-- and warlocks. If we were back in my town you'd be burned alive for blasphemy."

"Do you think I should be burned alive for blasphemy?"

Alec shook his head. "No one should be burned alive."

The response surprised Magnus, who had been expecting Alec to agree with the ways of his culture. He thought for a moment, he was a boy who abandoned his formal name in all circumstances and pirated among the seas. Perhaps he wasn't as ignorant as Magnus imagined. "The world is more progressive than you know." Magnus said. "It saddens me that you've only grown up with those still living the same way they did a century ago, belief-wise, at least."

"Rebellious youth," Alec whispered, dragging his hands through the leaves as they walked. "So, are you going to at least give me a hint?" He asked suddenly.

"Excuse me?"

"Usually I have at least a map guiding me, but here I have nothing. Can't I have a hint to send me in the right direction?"

"That sounds like cheating to me." Magnus said. 

Alec sighed. If Magnus was so immortal, why would he miss a few pieces of treasure? He could just gain it back and more in his endless lifetime. Alec was momentarily angry, stretching his long legs to walk faster than the shorter man that was smirking behind him. So they kept walking. Alec tried to bring up any memory of location, but the myths spoke only of warnings. Alec had put quite the amount of distance between he and the warlock, and was surprised when he heard Magnus's feet running to catch up with him, as he had been rather lax in his stroll through the island. "Alexander, wait." He reached out to stall Alec, slightly out of breath from the short sprint. 

"Can't keep up?" Alec teased, jerking his arm out of Magnus's grasp to keep walking. Magnus wrestled him back.

"No," He whispered.  _"Look."_  He yanked Alec aside to hide behind some bushes and nodded forward, pointing out a large animal that was grazing just yards ahead. Alec didn't know what it was. "Don't move." Magnus whispered in his ear, causing him to shiver for more than one reason. Whatever was in the woods was humongous, bigger than any deer or moose Alec had ever seen. It wasn't quite a bear, but that claws that flashed in the sun and dug into the earth were more than enough to make Alec's skin prickle. Eventually the beast wandered off, and Magnus sprung into action.

"What was that?" Alec asked, keeping his voice as low as possible. Magnus didn't answer, he was waving his hands around, blue sparks trailing after his fingertips. "Magnus," Alec tried to get his attention.

"Looks like we'll have to save the exploring for another day." Magnus said instead of answering Alec. He bent down and snapped back up, hands opening up the air before them in an explosion of blue sparks and distorted air.

Alec felt his jaw drop at the sight of the magic, that being much more grandiose than anything Magnus had done in the few short months Alec had been there. "But Magnus, what _was_ that thing?" Alec asked once more.

"Alexander, please," Magnus breathed. "I'll explain everything once we're in my home. Step through this portal, hurry." Magnus nodded toward the swirling air. Alec swallowed, hesitant to enter the strange magic. Magnus held out a hand. "Trust me." He whispered, gesturing for Alec to grab his hand. His voice lilted to more of a question, like he didn't think Alec would actually do as he requested. Slowly, Alec grabbed Magnus's hand and stepped forward. The ground disappeared from beneath his feet and Alec felt like he was falling. He clutched onto Magnus's hand but it wasn't there anymore, and he felt his heart leap to his throat. He had trusted Magnus and the warlock had abandoned him, and now he was falling and probably going to die.

Just as quickly as the air had been stolen from his lungs, Alec was standing on firm ground again, able to control his breathing and calm his pounding heart. "God--" He gasped, never more grateful to be standing on the tile of Magnus's kitchen. Magnus happened to be right beside him, still holding his hand like he had never actually disappeared. 

"Are you alright?" He asked Alec, genuinely afraid that he had hurt the other man.

"I'm fine," Alec nodded. "I was just-- that was surprising." He chuckled, which then grew into a hearty laugh. "That was exhilarating!"

Magnus frowned, worried that Alec had bumped his head during the landing, but eventually joined the laughing. Noticing that their hands were still twined, Alec could only stare. He started leaning forward, toward Magnus who did not dare push anything. Alec was tempted, more than ever before, to lean in and kiss the other man. He was fighting with himself in his mind, one part of him pushing to just give into the kiss and the other telling him to run for the hills. Only there were no hills on Magnus's flat island.

Lips just inches apart, Alec parted his and gave in. Finally.

Magnus was stiff for a moment before dropping Alec's hand and wrapping his arms around the taller boy's neck. Their bodies crashed together, and had it not been for the person coughing at the entryway of the kitchen, there was no saying where the two would have gone. Flying apart, they could only turn red in the face while Ragnor glared at them. "Sorry to interrupt," He said, not sounding sorry at all. "But Magnus, I need to speak with you about-- ah, a certain problem on the island." He said after flashing a look to Alec. "Preferably alone, if you can manage it."

"Of course," Magnus responded, straightening up and puffing out his chest slightly. He turned to Alec and smiled. "Just stay in the house while we talk." He instructed. He started to leave, but Alec called out to pause him.

"Magnus, please, I'm very confused." Alec said, aware that Ragnor was still staring him down.

"I told you," Magnus smiled still. "I promised I would explain, so I'll explain. I just have to go talk with my friends."

"O--okay." Alec nodded, hanging his head, embarrassed by appearing so weak. Magnus walked over and tilted the other boy's head up, gaze steady despite the angry friend standing just a few feet away. Gently, he placed a kiss on Alec's cheek, which heated up greatly under the touch. He then spun away with Ragnor, disappearing around the corner and leaving Alec with his whirling thoughts painted with splashes of blushing cheeks and silver claws tearing everything apart.              

 

 


	8. Chapter 8

Two months. 

Jace wondered how many more would have to pass before he could cure the pain in his chest that he felt every morning when he woke up to the memory of Alec falling over board. 

There were moments where he almost forgot. When he married Clary, he was over the moon with joy until he looked beside himself and noticed that Alec was still gone, an empty space replacing where should’ve stood his best man and brother. When Max had two weeks of uphill recovery and could venture outside for the first time in a year, Jace nearly cried with something other than pain, until he thought of Alec dying before he could see the miracle.

One night before falling asleep, Izzy was cleaning around the kitchen. She hadn’t been to very many rallies lately. Jace and Clary had plans to find their own place to live, but for the time being they just stayed with the rest of the family. Clary observed the siblings. Max was bedridden once more, and the older two looked just as bad. Death wasn’t leaving the Lightwood house, it was hovering in the air and suffocating the family. “Jace,” Clary spoke up, breaking the suffocating silence. “Can I speak with you?”

“Of course,” Jace smiled, always happier with his wife. 

The two went to the empty living room, unused as always, and sat on the dusty couch. Clary brushed the hair out of Jace’s face, unkempt and tangled. “I was wondering...” She began. “After what happened with Alec-- did you look for him?”

Jace shot his eyes up from where they had been resting on his lap. “Of course I looked for him,” He said, disbelief coloring his voice. “You think I would just abandon him?”

Clary shook her head. “I never said I thought you abandoned him,” She said. “But... you did check all land in close proximity, right?”

Jace paused, then slowly nodded. “Every tiny piece of land.”

Clary frowned. Ever since learning about Jace’s piracy, she had been thinking about the legendary Abandoned Island and how not even the toughest pirates dare to land on its shores. “I’m only asking,” Clary quickly began to explain. “Because I understand that the Abandoned Island is not somewhere people go for the fun of it. You’ve checked there as well?”

Jace paled slightly. “I--I did not.”

“But that was near the spot that he--” Clary paused. “--How can you be sure he’s not there?”

Jace swallowed. “It’s false hope, that’s why.”

Clary shook her head and gripped Jace’s hands tightly, engulfing them in her smaller ones. “But how can you be sure?”

“Clary, that Island is too dangerous.” Jace sighed. “If he washed up there, he’s probably dead anyway. It’s-- it’s been months.”

Clary smiled softly, not wanting to push her husband too far in one conversation. “All I’m saying is that it may give you some peace to know that you really looked everywhere.” Jace sniffled and dropped his gaze to the couch again. “I can see that it haunts you.”

Jace stood suddenly. “What haunts me,” He snapped. “Is that my brother-- my best friend-- is dead.”

Clary was momentarily shocked by the suddenness. “Of course.”

“I’m going to get some fresh air.” Jace announced to her, signalling the end of the conversation.

“Johnathan, it’s nearing midnight.” Clary said, regretting the dialogue.

Jace didn’t care about the time. He shrugged on a light jacket and left the house, tears threatening to explode from his eyes. He had cried more in the past two months than he had in his whole life, even when his parents abandoned him. Back then, they weren’t his family. He wasn’t really losing much. But then, Alec became more than a friendly helper.

Alec became his brother, his home, his family.

What really scared Jace was the idea of finally going to search the Abandoned Island and finding Alec’s body, decomposed and just waiting to be claimed. If he had checked the island sooner, the scenario wouldn’t even be a possibility. But, there was truth to Clary’s words. Jace was haunted by the idea of the one unexplored land mass that could potential be housing the soul of his brother.

He wandered for hours, only returning to his house when the gas of the lanterns was running low and the light flickered on the stone of the streets earily. Clary had fallen asleep on the couch, waiting by the door for Jace to come back. Guilt shot through his heart as he gently shook her awake and helped her into bed in her half-asleep state. He pressed a firm kiss to her temple and laid next to her, though he knew he would not sleep for the remainder of the night. He was planning to himself the best course of action. There would be no gathering of the crew; this would be a solo sail. Being alone meant that it would probably take longer to get to the island since it had been a while since Jace had full control of the ship-- it would also be more dangerous. 

The next morning he explained to Izzy his plans, Clary smiling gently in the background. 

“You’re telling me,” Izzy said, voice growing more shrill despite the desperate hushes coming from Jace. “That you and Alec were _pirates!?”_

“Yes!” Jace stage-whispered, begging his sister to quiet down. 

“And you’re going to continue risking your life even after we _lost_ Alec.” Izzy said coldly, making her disapproval well known. 

“It’s not a risk when you’re the best.” Jace smiled.

The words processed for a second in Izzy’s brain before she gasped, “Oh dear Lord,” and smacked Jace with the flat of her palm on his chest. “I’m going with you.”

This brought Jace to a pause. “Isabelle, there is no way I’m letting you--”

“You don’t _let_ me do anything,” She exclaimed. “I don’t need your _permission_ to do anything,”

“Right,” Jace agreed quickly. “I wasn’t implying--”

“I’m coming on that God Damned ship with you. I’m not letting my brother go alone. I’m just as tough as you, and you will not go to that island from hell by yourself.”

Jace hung his head, a little shameful for making his sister feel as though he was implying she was too weak to come with him. That wasn’t why he wanted her to stay at all. Jace was well aware of the fact that Isabelle made a living off of being just as, if not more tough than her brothers and other male counterparts. “Fine.” Jace huffed. “But Max and mother cannot know the truth behind this.”

Izzy’s eyes shined with a tint of excitement. “Agreed,” She smiled. “But just know, I will be telling the other girls about this adventure for years to come.”

Jace laughed. “I wouldn’t expect anything else from you.”

The following day, Jace led Izzy through the streets of their hometown to the docks. He stopped in front of his ship, which had been empty since his return months ago. “This is your ship?” Izzy gasped, eagerly moving to where the deck would be lowered to walk on. Jace grabbed the rope and yanked it down, inspecting his ship as he went to make sure it hadn’t been tampered with too much. There were a few signs of intruders, but nothing of value was ever left on the vessel so Jace proceeded to let his sister aboard. As soon as she came aboard the planks, her face lit up with childlike glee. In one move, she ripped her traditional skirts off, revealing the pants that she loved so dearly that had been hidden underneath for the walk through town. Jace chuckled at his sisters excitement. “It will take about a week to get to the island from home.” He told her. He showed her his cabin room, the mood falling slightly as she pealed back the curtains to reveal the bed Alec used to sleep on. 

“You can have my bed, if it makes you feel better.” Jace offered.

Izzy shook her head. “No, I’ll sleep here.”

She spent most of the time on the railing of the deck, watching the water as it churned by, split by the tip of the ship. Her long hair was released from the formal tight up-do and curled in the wind, the darkness reminding Jace of Alec. The two siblings looked so much alike that it was slightly painful to be sailing with his sister.  
Jace kept the ship as steady as possible for the sail, and prayed that there would be no storms.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> warning: there's sex in this chapter which im not good at writing but since im not good at writing in general why not you know

The house on the Abandoned Island had never been more silent. Walking on cloud nine, Magnus bounced on his feet to music that played in only his head, while Ragnor shuffled along resisting the urge to punch him in the nose. The two were heading to Magnus’s office, which was less like an office and more like an empty room that Magnus refused to enter for at least the next century. A bad encounter with ex-client (and girlfriend, though Magnus shuddered when he remembered that) left the room as abandoned as the island should have been, according to rumors.

“I’ve been meaning to redecorate,” Magnus said, thinking aloud to spit out the bad taste in his mouth that came with remembering the ordeal. “What do you think, Ragnor? I’m torn between blue and yellow paint. Perhaps a nice pattern for a change; though I hear solid colors are--”

“Magnus Bane!” Ragnor exclaimed, slamming the door shut behind them angrily. “This is serious! Stop becoming all domestic on me.”

“I am not becoming _domestic,”_ Magnus argued with a roll of his eyes. 

“Please, I’m choking on all of the sexual and romantic tension in the air.” Ragnor said, taking a seat and whipping up a cup of his ever-present tea. “You simply kiss the boy and suddenly nothing matters, not even demons from Hell.”

“Ragnor,” Magnus began. “I thought I had gotten rid of all of the cracks. It’s an easy fix.” 

“It didn’t seem so easy twenty years ago when they first bled through to our island.” Ragnor huffed. “They’re attracted to our magic. I’m afraid blocking them up will only solve the problem for so long.”

“Then I will just have to keep blocking them up.” Magnus shrugged. “I don’t understand why you’re so upset.”

Ragnor seemed appalled at his best friend. _“Really,”_ He gasped melodramatically. “You need to get that human off the island.”

Magnus came to a pause. “Excuse me?”

“Oh, don’t get all twisted.” Ragnor sighed. “You’ve been extravagant. When he’s around, you practically bleed magic. It’s a wonder it’s taken a creature this long to break through.”

“I’m very in control of my powers.” Magnus argued.

“So you think.”

“Alexander has nothing to do with this.”

“Then get rid of him.”

It was Magnus’s turn to be appalled. “How can you just ask that of me?”

Ragnor did not want to hurt his friend, but knew that Magnus needed pushing to have the words impact him. “You’re acting like you two have been in love for years. Magnus, you need to think _rationally_ here. It’s one thing to fall in love with another warlock, a fellow immortal, but a whole other to give yourself to a human that will die while you live on infinitely.”

“Thank you, Ragnor.” Magnus said, voice dripping with sarcasm. “The thought hadn’t crossed my mind at all. It’s not I am plagued by that very thought every night before I fall asleep or anything.”

Ragnor frowned, a little apologetic. “Why put yourself through the torture?”

“Like you said, it’ll be done with in a couple of years.” Magnus turned sharply on his heel and made for the exit.

“Magnus--”

“I’ll take care of the demon, like I take care of everything on this Damned island.” He called over his shoulder as he stormed out, letting the door slam hard behind him. His breathing was hard, he felt out of control. He sucked in air and leaned his back against the door for support. The fact that Alec was living a mortal life was not something Magnus was able to forget entirely. For the most part, he was able to ignore the reality in the face of Alec, who was young and thought himself to be immortal, as all youth does. Having his friend spit the truth into his face was only heartbreaking, and made Magnus want to abandon the Abandoned Island.

He had begun walking aimlessly, searching for Alec. He knew that the first thing he should do is find the demonic creature and take care of it, but he could not think clearly in the moment. Alec wasn’t reading in the library or eating in the kitchen. He wasn’t in his own room, or even in the close vicinity of the garden. Magnus heart hammered, imaging Alec going outside and being attacked by the demon. His pace quickened, he turned to go to his room to gather a few things before heading out to look for Alec.

Bursting into his room, Magnus was paused by a few things being different. The fact that his curtains were drawn shut was the biggest difference to Magnus, who only covered the window at night when he was preparing to go to sleep. The next thing he noticed was the dimly illuminated face of Alec laying in his bed, under the soft blanket, candlelight flickering on his face. Alec had come to his room mostly just to pass the time since he was told not to go out, and had fallen asleep on the sheets that smelled so much like Magnus. He must have drawn the curtains before laying down. 

Magnus sat on the bed next to Alec and gently shook him awake. He stirred immediately and shot up, face flushing a deep red in the dark of the room. “Hey,” Magnus said gently, palm pressing lightly on the other’s chest to keep him from getting up too much. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to frighten you so.”

“No, I--I’m sorry, Magnus,” Alec quickly stuttered. “I--I hadn’t meant to fall asleep in your bed, that’s so rude of me, I can’t even fathom what you think--”

“Alexander, it’s alright.” Magnus smiled. “In fact, I was happily surprised to find you here. You’re welcome in my bed anytime.” He threw in a wink, enjoying how easy it was to bring a blush to Alec’s cheeks. 

Alec on the other hand, was growing tired of fighting with himself. He let his cheeks grow warm, telling himself it was because the other man was flirtatious and not because he was embarrassed. He told himself there was nothing to be embarrassed about. While Magnus chuckled lightly at his response, Alec leaned forward and captured his lips in a kiss, breathtaking enough to stop the laughter coming from the other man and have it turn into a very soft, very short moan. Magnus was surprised by Alec’s forwardness, as he had literally run away at just the slightest euphemism just days ago. Alec was kissing him desperately, like Magnus was air and he had drowned in the storm that washed him ashore.

Breaking apart, leaning back until Magnus’s lips stopped chasing his, Alec asked, “So, is everything alright?”

“Everything’s amazing,” Magnus told him, eagerly leaning in for another kiss. Alec stopped him with a hand on his chest.

“I mean, that thing we saw...” He said. “What was it, Magnus?”

“I’m afraid you’ll run.” Magnus admitted. Alec shook his head, begging Magnus to go on. The candlelight made the younger boy’s eyes look bigger, pleading with Magnus for answers. Magnus held tightly to his hands, afraid that he would actually get out of the bed and run away. “It was--” He paused, searching for words. “Alexander, there are so many things about this world that you do not know.”

“Like?” Alec asked.

“That creature we saw just hours ago, it was a demon. Only, to your eyes, it was disguised as a very ugly, very twisted forest animal.” Magnus explained, waiting for Alec’s explosion.

Alec remained relatively calm, processing the information. “A-- a demon?” He asked, searching Magnus’s eyes for any signs of a jest but coming up with only honesty.

Magnus nodded. “Alec, I am half-demon. That’s where the magic comes from. I’m telling you this not to scare you, but to promise you something.”

“What’s that?” Alec asked, throat dry and stomach dropping.

“That I am not like that creature you saw today in the woods. I will kill it, and the island will be safe again. While I may be half of what that thing is, I will never hurt you.”

Alec’s hands were shaking slightly. He raised one to place on Magnus’s cheek, gently stroking his thumb over the smooth, human skin. “You do not look demonic.” He whispered.

“I hide it with magic.” Magnus told him.

Alec looked puzzled. “All the time? Doesn’t that grow tiring?”

Magnus shook his head. “There are other things I’d like to use my magic for, but I’d hate myself if I scared you.”

“Show me,” Alec insisted. “I want to see you.” 

Magnus was the one to lean back then. Alec was staring at him, eyes just as wide and just as pleading. Magnus wanted to kiss him one last time, because he was sure it would

be the last, but instead he just sighed. “Alexander--”

“Let me see you, I trust you. Don’t hide from me.” Alec said, stroking back locks of Magnus’s hair that had escaped from their elegant styling. 

Magnus took a moment to really observe Alec, to memorize his face. Then, with a blink, his demonic physique was revealed. It was a small detail, something that every warlock was born with. For some, it might have been horns or feathers or something of that nature. Magnus’s mark was found in his eyes, which glowed yellow and resembled a cat when he was not hiding their look with magic. He could only sit back and watch Alec’s reaction as they were revealed. He was close to tears, gripping the other boy’s hands impossibly tight. Alec shifted and Magnus’s heart hammered, expecting him to get up. But, instead, Alec pushed him down on the bed and leaned over him. “You’re nothing like that beast,” He whispered, still staring into Magnus’s eyes as though he were entranced. Before Magnus could question him, Alec kissed him again.

The kiss began to transform into something more heated, something that Alec had never experienced before. He never chased after Lydia’s lips the way he chased Magnus’s; he never wanted to touch someone more than he wanted to touch Magnus. “I--” Alec panted. “I’m not exactly sure what I’m doing.”

“Keep going,” Magnus told him, breath fanning against his lips and body rocking up to Alec’s. The other boy gasped and followed Magnus’s lead, rocking down on his hips.

“Alexander,” Magnus whispered. “Touch me.”

“I--” Alec didn’t know where to start. He was consumed with the need to just be with Magnus, so he kissed him harder. “Show me what to do.”

Magnus nodded, and moved so that he was the one on top. Once balanced with a leg on either side of Alec, Magnus pulled his shirt off, and shivered when Alec’s hands immediately ran over the exposed skin. “So smooth,” He marveled before letting Magnus pull his own shirt off. Magnus kissed him and Alec wondered what would come next. He knew what needed to be done when a man and a woman were having sex, what needed to go where to make a child, but he was at a loss for where to put what. Magnus seemed to know everything, so Alec just continued to trust him.

Magnus moved lower on Alec’s body, shifting down and kissing his neck, his chest, his stomach, and soon he was hovering just above the hem of his pants, which had grown particularly tighter over the last few minutes. “Tell me,” Magnus breathed. “Have you ever been with a girl?”

“Y--yes,” Alec gasped, feeling Magnus slide a hand up his thigh.

Magnus hummed and worked on the string that tied his pants up. “And did she ever make you feel like this?”

“No,” Alec answered quickly, head thrown back as Magnus pulled his pants away and cupped him. “Never.”

Magnus hummed once more but said nothing, returning to kissing Alec’s exposed skin. “Tell me if you want me to stop,” He said, but Alec was too far gone to even think about stopping. Slowly, Magnus took Alec into his mouth and began working him. He licked from the base all the way to the tip from the underside, eliciting a loud moan from Alec, who buried his hands in Magnus’s short hair, pulling sharply. Magnus smirked, proud to be the first person to ever make Alec sound like that. After a few minutes of bobbing his head up and down, licking and sucking, he pulled back to kiss Alec again, who was desperate for more action downstairs. “Let me touch you,” He begged, hand flying down to Magnus’s pants and slipping under the cloth, surprised but not thrown off by what he found. There had been plenty a lonesome night on the ship, and Alec knew his way around a penis-- well, his penis. But if Magnus’s soft gasps were anything to go off of, Alec was doing alright.

“Okay,” Magnus moaned. “Watch,” He slipped his pants off and angled himself so Alec could see a little, before pushing a finger against his entrance. Alec’s whole body tightened at the sight, and he desperately wanted to be inside Magnus. Magnus’s head was thrown back, his face a mixture of ecstasy and pain as he stretched himself out for Alec, who was palming himself to the sight. Thinking better of it, he instead grabbed Magnus and tugged on him while he worked, making his moans louder and his gasps quicker. Finally, after what felt like ages, Magnus brought his hand back and positioned himself over Alec, the heat and pressure from the small movement almost too much for the inexperienced man. When Magnus sank down, he wasn’t the only one screaming in pleasure.

Magnus rode Alec until the other boy gathered himself and seemed to lose all insecurities that he may have had. Thrusting up into Magnus, Alec took the lead and flipped them around, the new angle invigorating him and making Magnus see stars.

By the time they were both done, it had grown dark out. Their stomachs growled and Magnus conjured up food to eat together in bed. He didn't want to leave the warm sheets and the strong body next to him, because he knew as soon as he left that he would have to battle the demon. So for that night, Magnus slept. He slept peacefully and heavily, waking only when the strong sense of morning invaded his senses. He longed to stay in bed with Alec, to wake up with him and kiss him more, but he knew he could only put off his responsibilities for so long. So, with a quiet sigh, Magnus climbed out of bed. Alec shifted slightly, before falling back into his own sleep. 

Magnus didn't see anyone in his house that morning. It probably had something to do with him using his magic to lock all of the doors last night to keep everyone and everything out. The island was alive, birds and bugs flitting about, and his friends smiling warmly at each other as they began their days. In the distance, Magnus saw Ragnor chatting with Catarina, and decided against going to speak with him, instead choosing to head into the woods. 

He crouched low to the ground, keeping his senses alert for the slightest change in sound. Everyone else seemed too calm, and Magnus knew that was just what the demons liked. Surprise attacks. Total annihilation. 

Tired of following pointless tracks and random animal calls, Magnus tapped into his powers to track the demon. Following the path of energy left by the creature (much as all non-human beings leave behind) Magnus was angered to find himself in front of the cave that held his treasure. "Bastard," He spit, hoping that the demon hadn't taken his riches. Illuminating the cave with his glowing hands, Magnus ventured in. All the way to the back, where the cave appeared to be a dead end, was the real entrance to the real adventure. Examining it revealed that it hadn't been tampered with. Magnus felt exposed, and he quickly moved to press his back against the wall-- but not quickly enough. 

From the darkness sprung the evil creature. Magnus deflected the assault with a wave of energy, but that kept the creature away only for so long. "You're a repeat offender," Magnus noted, blasting the thing with his magic and sending it flying. "Didn't you learn last time? Don't _mess_ with my island." Feeling proud of his mini-speech, Magnus surged forward. The demon managed to land a deep scratch on his arm, but the pain wasn't even registered by Magnus, who was busy using all of his force to send the thing back to where it came from. Chanting and charging, Magnus burned it alive, and it disappeared in a puff of smoke, the smell of singed hair and a scream of anguish in the air.

Breathing heavily, the wound that the creature inflicted finally began to register in Magnus's senses. He was too weak from the fight to do much more than slow the flow of blood pouring from his arm, so he stumbled back to the center of the island, hoping one of his friends knew a good healing spell to save him from bleeding out. 

The ground seemed to move against him and the trees spun around even when he was looking straight ahead. The demon had cut deeper than Magnus originally thought-- or maybe it had used poison. Either way, Magnus passed out right as the worried faces of Catarina, Dorothea, and Ragnor came rushing toward him.  


	10. Chapter 10

A cold chill spread through the room. Waking up momentarily, Alec flung the blankets over his shivering body before falling warmly asleep. Not minutes later, he awoke again with a great shudder as a chill ran down his spine. Bolting up, he panted and looked around the room. It had felt as though a cold breath was blowing on him, and he couldn't help but picture the demon from earlier. 

A small ray of light flitted through red curtains that were not familiar to Alec, until he began to remember the previous night. He had expected to feel remorseful; at least, he told himself that he should be feeling that. Instead he could only wonder where Magnus was, and why the bed he was waking up to was empty. 

His feet hit the icy ground making him shiver again, and he quickly gathered clothes to dress. He threw on an extra layer, bundling up in one of Magnus's shirts to search for the other man. He pulled aside the curtain and blinked against the sudden light, hoping deep down that the island had been thrown into some sort of crazy winter to explain the coldness. But the warm waves beckoned him and the chirping of birds alerted him. 

Leaving Magnus's room, he found that the rest of the expansive home was just as frigid. The hallways were darkened, and he carried a candle with him to provide some extra lighting. Magnus was nowhere to be found, and for a moment Alec felt his heart sinking with the thought that he had left, taking what he wanted from Alec and running. Searching on, Alec heard voices below him. He descended the stairs and was greeted by the faces of other warlocks, all of whom frowned at him and seemed fixated on the shirt he was wearing. "Good morning," He greeted politely. "Have any of you seen Magnus?"

A soft whisper went throughout the crowd. "Mr. Lightwood," One woman stepped forward. Alec tensed. Why were they all whispering? Had something happened? "Magnus is in the home of his friend, Ragnor Fell. Would you like me to escort you over?"

"Alright," Alec nodded, still confused, pounding heart doing little to help his focus. "Is everything alright?"

"Well," The woman started as she spun around to walk. "There was an incident, but Magnus should be fine."

Alec quickened his step to catch up with the surprisingly fast girl as she zipped through the small crowd of warlocks. "What happened?" Alec asked, desperately craving more information.

"I'll let Ragnor and Catarina explain to you," She said. "I'm Dorothea, by the way."

"Yes, we've briefly met. Magnus has told me about his friends."

"Has he?" The woman Dorothea asked.

"Well," Alec shrugged, and let the topic drop. 

The two continued the short walk in silence, until Dorothea stopped outside of an entrance belonging to a house smaller than Mangus's, but still quite impressive. She didn't bother knocking, but instead pushed right in, sweeping passed busts and bookcases that captivated Alec's wandering eye. 

Finally, their short journey ended outside of a tall archway, and voices trailed from the other room. "When I told you to handle the demon I did not mean on your own, you fool!" Said a man's voice with gruff disappointment.

"Come now, Ragnor," A female voice replied. "He was only doing as you asked."

"You're insane, Magnus." The man replied. Alec labeled him as Ragnor, and hesitated to burst into the scene. Hearing Magnus's groggy laugh got his feet to move.

"I told you," Magnus chuckled, voice a slur of magic and healing spells. "I take care of the island."

Alec paused, almost incapable of taking in the scene before him. Magnus lay on a cushioned couch, chest exposed and shining red. Mysterious glimmers of blue and yellow and purple flew about him before settling on his skin and disappearing into it. He looked ashen, like he had lost a lot of blood. "And here's your distraction," Ragnor sighed, getting to his feet. Magnus blinked and swung his head over, smiling hazily at Alec.

"Alexander," He greeted, and Alec's heart melted. 

"Magnus," Alec replied. "Are you-- what happened?"

"He nearly killed himself, that's what happened." Ragnor cut in, glaring at Alec. "He seemed so pressed on being the hero that he very nearly lost his life."

"I--" Alec's throat ran dry. "Magnus, when...?" He couldn't fathom that the incident happened just after they had been together.

"Don't worry over it," Dorothea's gentle voice interrupted. "Ragnor is just misplacing his anger. He wanted to be a brave hero, too."

"Oh, whatever, Dot." Ragnor rolled his eyes and turned away from them. Alec focused on the woman who seemed to be doing all of the healing.

"Is he... Is Magnus going to be alright?"

"Nothing a little magic can't fix," She declared, swirling the colors around him once more. Alec could only stare hard at her, and then at Magnus. He didn't know how to form the

words pushing on the tip of his tongue. The other woman looked up, noticing Alec's frozen state.

"Would you like to sit with him for a few minutes?" She asked, smiling gently.

Alec snapped back to reality and shook his head. "I don't want to interrupt whatever it is that's keeping him alive."

"Oh, it's alright." The woman smiled. "I needed to go get supplies anyway, so he would be alone without you." Alec glanced over his shoulder and found Ragnor still glaring at him. "They're coming with me, too." She added.

She hurried them all out of the room, leaving Alec alone with Magnus, who was smiling happily up at him. "Why are you on that human's side?" Ragnor asked in a harsh whisper.  
"He's not the one that hurt Magnus," Catarina replied. "Besides, did you see how happy Magnus got just by having him near?" Ragnor pouted at the reminder, and then they were out of the house.

Alec took a seat on the floor next to the couch, resting on his knees. Magnus tried to sit up, but Alec stopped him when he saw the expression of pain decorate his face. "Take it easy," Alec ordered gently. "You need to heal."

"I'm fine, Alexander." Magnus smiled. Alec wanted to say that the scratches on Magnus's chest proved otherwise, but he kept his mouth closed, settling for kissing him again. A part of Alec felt liberated to kiss someone so freely, especially when he actually _wanted_ to kiss that person. 

"What happened?" Alec asked again, moving back as to not cause too much excitement.

"The demon that we had seen yesterday," Magnus began, seeming to sober up slightly with the topic. "I had to take care of it."

"You went against that creature yourself?" Alec asked, using one hand to stroke back the hair that had fallen into Magnus's eyes.

Magnus sighed against the feeling, his eyes fluttering shut. "I didn't have much choice," He told Alec. "My friends were all terribly angry with me."

Alec frowned. "Because of me." 

Magnus's eyes snapped open, and he quickly cupped Alec's cheek. "None of this is your fault."

"I see the way they all look at me," Alec began. "They don't want me here. I-- I'm only a distraction to you."

Magnus frowned. "You are so much more than just a distraction." He said, moving his hand from Alec's cheek to the back of his neck to pull him in for another kiss. He tried to shift positions, but the mood was ruined when he moved too quickly and pulled away, flinching in pain.

"Maybe I should go," Alec sad sadly, wanting to help Magnus but not knowing what he could do. He had no powers of his own, nothing to measure up to Magnus and all of his friends. Alec suddenly felt very small. He wanted to take away all of Magnus's pains, give him nothing but everything. But he was only human.

"I'll be fine in an hour or so," Magnus said. "Depending on how fast Catarina works her magic."

"Don't rush it," Alec said. He leaned down and pressed one final kiss to Magnus's forehead, before standing. Catarina had returned at any rate, and Alec didn't want to be more trouble the warlocks already felt him to be. He left the room and breathed in the fresh air of the island, trying to keep the tears from falling out of his eyes. He hated seeing Magnus in pain, he hated that he couldn't help. He didn't understand how magic worked or what it was doing, but he hoped that Magnus would be completely healed. Wandering the island, Alec saw no more evil creatures. There seemed to be the same chill in the air that had attacked him in Magnus's room, as though the island could tell that its protector was injured and was weeping for him. Alec felt like weeping, but continued walking with the breeze.

After a while, he found the opening to a cave, one that he must have simply passed by in previous searches. How he had missed the grand entrance, he wasn't sure, but he entered at any rate. There were stalactites gripping the ceiling of the cave, water dripping from them. Alec suddenly felt very exposed and very cold. The chill wouldn't quit. Eventually, he reached the back of the cave, and saw no openings elsewhere. Right as he turned to go, a glimmer caught his eye. Crouching down, Alec peered through a small crack in the wall and saw a few spare pieces of gold laying on the floor. Wiggling his hand through, he was able to grab the nearest one and pull it back, examining the bit and discovering it to be real. Heart pounding, he put the gold back.

He had found Magnus's treasure.

What to do? Alec dashed out of the cave and looked around, memorizing the area and the direction he had walked from Ragnor's house. The trees were thick there, but there was surprisingly little underbrush and a lot of flowers that seemed to shimmer along with the gold. Having marked his spot, Alec paused. He couldn't just steal the gold from Magnus, could he? It would be like any other act of piracy he had committed in his life, only the game was different then. Never before had Alec stolen from someone he had slept with. _It was just an action,_ He tried to tell himself.  _It meant nothing, just a way to feel good._  

The back of Alec's neck had grown sweaty. He wasn't a good liar, not even to himself.

For that moment, he decided to ignore the treasure. Besides, it wasn't like he could actually just swim all the way home with bags of gold weighing him down. Waiting for Magnus to get better seemed to be the best option, to talk to him about the family situation. He had trusted Alec with a secret, so Alec could trust him right back, right?

Magnus jolted with the flick of Catarina's magic. He felt his skin being pulled together again, and it wasn't the most pleasant feeling in the world. "Of course I trust him," He grunted to Ragnor who had taken to frowning over a cup of tea.

"All I'm saying is that the boy is... peculiar." Ragnor sighed.

"Trust me, I'm well acquainted with your feelings toward Alexander."

"Do you even know what he's doing right now?" Ragnor asked, blinking at his friend. "He could be raiding your room, taking your treasures."

Magnus chuckled, despite the pain. "Oh, he's raided my room alright."

Ragnor blanched. "I did not want to hear that."

"Why are you so jealous, Fell?" Magnus teased.

Ragnor sighed. "Jealousy is not the same as suspicion." Magnus grunted, and turned his head away, tired of arguing with his friend. "Catarina, you agree with me, right?"

"I don't take sides when you two fight," She said, keeping her eyes focused on her work on Magnus. "It's pointless."

Ragnor rolled his eyes and sat back. The truth was that he really wasn't jealous of Alec, and he really did find him suspicious. He could tell that the boy was going through a serious case of repressed emotions, and the last thing Ragnor wanted to see was all of those feelings poisoning his best friend. But he knew Magnus well, and knew that he fell for people harder than they ever fell for him, and at a much faster pace as well. He couldn't help the bad feeling that was churning in his stomach, but he pressed his lips closed to avoid any more arguments and sipped his tea, careful not to make too much noise, as Catarina hated distractions. 


	11. Chapter 11

Distractions. Alec hated them. Jace distracted him often, always trying to fight or provoke during even the most serious of times. Had Alec become a distraction? Ragnor's words rang in his ears, distracting him from the path he was supposed to follow. It seemed that nothing was more than distractions in the past few months of his life. Even simply meeting Magnus had distracted Alec from what he needed to do for his family, for himself.   
Of course there was nothing more between them, Alec told himself. It was only pleasure, right? Alec wasn't in love with the other man, for heaven's sake, that would be ridiculous. 

The back of Alec's neck was sweating, despite a lack of heat on the island. Sand began to crunch under his feet, and he was soon at the edge of the sea. How to get off the island? How to get back to his family? A thought struck Alec; in all the time he had been gone, would Max even still be alive to see him one more time? The idea made his heart race and he continued farther out into the sea. The water was at his knees, shoes soaked.

Jace and Izzy and Max, the only people he had ever loved in his life and loved him back, they all thought he was dead, and Alec had done nothing to change that. There was nothing he could really have done, but he felt at fault nonetheless. He kept walking, fighting the current. The water was at his thighs.

His mother, his poor mother, all alone. His father had left her (unofficially, he had always been 'away on business' to anyone who asked) and she alone had to fend for her dying child and the other two that needed resources to survive. Alec had helped her-- had meant to always help her, but he had vanished. "I'm here," He whispered to himself, letting the words travel over the waves to find his siblings and his mother. "I'm here," He repeated over and over, until the water was up to his chest and the waves splashed into his mouth, after which he spit the salt back out with a call of the words once more.

The water rose, and Alec let it. He would walk under until he found his home, and then he would walk into his home and embrace the ones he loved. He could picture it as clear as the water he was walking in. In the horizon, he saw the misty figure of a ship. A month ago, he would have done anything possible to be spotted by it and taken off the island, but in that moment he simply froze.

He couldn't stop staring at the mast, and the flag that was waving from it. It wasn't really a flag, but a pair of old red underwear, the dye fading from the waterlogged seams.   
Alec's whole body burst into action and he was running. Not towards the ship, no, his legs could no longer reach the ground at that point, but instead he propelled himself through the water and back to the shore. Like lightening he zipped through the woods, nearly breaking his leg after falling over a hidden branch. He ran on, desperate to say goodbye because he was only human after all. He crashed into the clearing and it was eerily empty, like the other warlocks could tell that a scene was about to unfold.

"Magnus," He called, voice hoarse from the saltwater. He crashed into Ragnor's house. 

"Alexander?" Magnus asked, seeing the state of the boy in the archway. "Why are you all wet? Are you alright?"

"Magnus, I'm leaving." Alec panted out, lungs burning but not as much as his heart. 

Magnus's face fell from an expression of amusement and curiosity to one of dismay. "W--what?"

"My brother, he's coming here," Alec quickly explained. "I have to meet him or else he will charge you and I can't-- I have to go." He started to turn. 

"Wait!" Magnus called, voice breaking a little. "You're just going to leave?"

Alec wanted to bolt and not bother with an answer. He knew his brother better than his brother knew himself, and Jace would attack anything that stopped him from being reunited with Alec, which would only lead to the onslaught of magic that would of course overpower him and kill him. "I have to," Alec repeated, heart still hammering.

Magnus felt offended. Just an hour ago, the boy before him was kissing him like he was the air he needed to breath, and now he was just bolting? "Alec, I don't understand." Magnus said, refusing to let the tears he was feeling fall from his eyes. "What about the treasure?"

"Forget your treasure," Alec snapped, needing to run back to the beach. "We both know you'd never give it to me anyway."  
Those were his parting words. 

Affronted, Magnus wanted to argue and say that he would give Alec all the treasure in the world if it meant he'd stay. He could sense the other boy's fear and worry, but all he could focus on was the feeling of his heart being ripped out of his chest. "Fine, Alexander. Go." He said coldly, turning his head away and burying it in the couch. 

Alec was a little surprised by the change in attitude. He expected a little more drama, a little more emotion. Without saying another word to draw the exchange out longer than necessary, he bolted. Magnus thought of a million things he could have said to the boy before he left, but it was far too late to voice them then. He could have meet Jace again, became friendly, visited Alec. But Alec made his future clear. He would always choose his family over himself. Always. 

So he ran, and Magnus let him run.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> me: wants to write a long long long fic
> 
> also me: is depressed and can't focus on anything 
> 
> so yeah sorry but i literally went months without energy to do anything i liked let alone writing but im back now bitchessssss <3


	12. Chapter 12

It has been calculated that it takes the earth three-hundred and sixty-five days (and then some) to make a complete orbit around the giant star we call our sun, and we have named that a year. A lot of things can happen in this time, 365 is a big number. People make promises to fulfill in these days, ways to change their lives for the better. Often, a year makes the past foggier and, of course, farther away. This passage of time softens the mind and hardens the heart, and pains are overcome just a little more.

The wedding was beautiful. Alec was bursting with joy when little Max walked the rings down the isle, and when he had to kiss Lydia the little victory made it a bearable act (and so what if Alec saw flashes of dark black hair and impossibly tanned skin whenever he closed his eyes?)

Rewinding a year puts Alec back on the Abandoned Island, and Jace was finally less than an ocean away. Alec stood at the shore, waiting ever so patiently for his life to begin again, and told himself that yes, it was beginning again and not ending at all. He told himself the pain in his chest was all the joy he was feeling, building up to burst out of him. To Alec's surprise, Izzy had been with Jace and they had both thrown themselves onto the island in a whirl of swords and loose pants, only to drop everything and tackle Alec to the ground, questioning his existence. It took getting him home for them to finally stop wondering if the Island was simply playing a trick on them. 

Max was going uphill, the medics told them. Alec's arrival made his eyes shine even brighter and his cheeks warm even redder, and he almost looked like a healthy child. Alec wasted no time, in that year. He found Lydia and married her, saying that the months apart from her killed him and blah, blah, blah. Her wedding gift to him was a share in her family's savings, which he took immediately to the doctors to demand more medicine to keep Max on his upward swing of health. Soon, the little boy began playing in the street again, and even if it was only for minutes at a time, Alec was content with his life.

Nighttime was worse, however. There was an obligation for Alec to stay with Lydia in their own home, one that he was expected to fill with little children of his own and begin his own fatherhood. But at night, when Lydia crawled into the bed with him and tried to move against him, Alec felt rigid and cold, like a machine rusted over but still pushed to do a job. Needless to say, there were no Lightwood children in that first year.

To Alec, the Abandoned Island returned to being a thing of legends.

But it was a real place, with real people living on it. A heartbroken warlock went endlessly after the demons that flooded through onto the mass of land until the only thing he could do was destroy the island entirely. "I'm sorry," He had sighed to his longest friends. "I'm just tired of never really winning. We can find new homes, like we always do."  
So the Abandoned Island was erased from history, and to the humans, it had been a monstrously huge wave that had come and swallowed it whole. When the news did reach Alec, he ignored the tightness in his chest and promised himself that the people living on the island were smart enough to escape. And the year continued to pass.

"What do you think of this bunch?" Lydia asked Alec one day as they walked through the market-- the same one they walked through every week, on the same day, at the same time. "We need more eggs, is the price fair?"

Lydia always made a point to bring up money to Alec, as if to say, _I've got you and I know exactly why._ Daring him to confess, to come clean. Alec bit his tongue, swallowed his pride, and nodded with a charming smile. "Looks good to me."

People knew the Lightwood name, then. Jace had claimed his title as the Greatest Pirate in the World, and Alec let him have it all, wanting to forget that part of his life completely. Izzy was making quite a push in the female movement, bringing her brothers along to her speeches to prove that yes, there were rational males in the world that supported the supposedly irrational females. Much to her delight, pants were starting to become just as fashionable as skirts.

Lydia dragged Alec along the market street, enjoying the recognition of being Mrs. Lightwood, and bought their groceries without much input from Alec. It was a crowded street, and the noise level didn't leave much room for small talk. 

It was a crowded street. Brown and blond hair colored the crowed, the occasional spot of red or grey making an appearance. In the crowd, everyone looked the same. So why were Alec's eyes drawn to the back of one person's head in particular? The hair was darker, yes, blacker than the night. His skin was tan--

Alec stopped walking, Lydia's hand slipping from his. She turned to question him, just in the same moment that the man turned.

Magnus caught Alec's eye too, and froze as well. 

Alec didn't know what to expect. Would the other man run at him and embrace him, or punch him, or yell at him, or, worse, kiss him? The noise faded away, and eventually Lydia gave up on trying to move him, and angry travelers shoved around him but none of it mattered. Then a wave of people passed in front of Magnus, and when they cleared, he was gone. 

Alec blinked. Had he really just seen the man he had convinced himself that he had dreamed up? He looked around, but Magnus was nowhere to be seen. But Alec knew what he saw. Magnus was alive, he had survived whatever happened to the island and he was nearby. Alec's whole body buzzed with the possibilities-- but he was anchored to Lydia's side. 

The next week, Alec passed a new store that had a sign out front reading Fell and Co., the name ringing a familiar bell in Alec's head, but he ignored the chiming. The store didn't say what exactly it was selling, but it didn't matter, it seemed to be doing good business. Whenever Alec considered going inside the shop, it was like he couldn't focus. Something would catch his eye and pull him away, or he would lose interest, even though he very much wanted to find out what the store was. It wasn't like he spent his days daydreaming of Magnus, no, not at all.

A year makes the mind grow softer.

He had forgotten the fine details, the expressions on Magnus's face, the way his eyes betrayed him. Alec had taken for granted the way the sun made Magnus's dark eyes shine almost like they could warm up his very soul. 

A year makes the heart grow harder.

Alec had also forgotten the way he had left, well, all those little details. His harshness, his suddenness. He could remember standing in the ocean that day, calling out to his siblings that he was there, he was there, and he wanted to call the same to Magnus. But, every time they saw each other, Magnus vanished. 

It was all those small things, like the weight of dust, piling up and up and not really making a difference but dirtying the surface still. 

Alec wanted to clean the dust, but Magnus seemed covered in it. He couldn't be pinned down.

It was in the second year since the Abandoned Island that Alec spoke with Magnus. Actually, he found Magnus speaking to Lydia. "Alec!" He had heard her shrill voice calling, and when he turned, none other than Magnus Bane was staring at him, wide-eyed and pale-faced. Unable to run away from his wife without good reason, Alec went over. "Oh, Alec," Lydia gushed when he was near. "This man is just simply wonderful, so charming and polite. He tells me he's new in town, and I knew I just had to introduce you two."  
Alec tried to look Magnus in the eye, but the other man kept his gaze always just a little off. "Hello," Alec greeted, surprised by how much control he had over his voice. "Have we met before?"

Magnus flashed him a dangerous look. "No." He said coldly. "I'm afraid I have to leave now. Mrs. Lightwood, it was a pleasure." He didn't tell Alec it was a pleasure, though. 

"I didn't catch your name," Alec called, challenging the other man.

Magnus glared at him. "Magnus Bane." He said, then disappeared into the crowd before Alec could get more out of him.

"Well, I don't know what upset him," Lydia said. Alec did his best to match her confused look, but he knew exactly why Magnus had turned so cold. He decided to try and corner him without Lydia's presence, a hard task as she always tagged along with him like they were fused at the hip. 

Magnus, on the other hand, was panicking. Out of all the cities he picked to hunker down in, he had to land in the same home as Alexander Lightwood? Who now had a wife, as though the universe just loved to add insult to injury. Using his magic, Magnus had fled the scene before his hard exterior could crumble under the hard gaze of Alec's eyes. He appeared in his home, some building disguised as a shop that the humans never wanted to go inside of because Ragnor despised their curiosity and used his magic to make it nearly impossible for human eyes to stay focused on the shop itself. "Ragnor, we have to move." Magnus called as he landed in the shop, the wooden floors dusty and creaky.

"I just got situated." Ragnor frowned. It was true that at the snap of his fingers, his home could be set up, but he was old fashioned and liked to unpack by hand.

"Well, get un-situated." Magnus sighed, stomping away on the floor.  
  


Ragnor grew serious. "Magnus, what happened?"

"Nothing," Magnus lied. "I just don't think I fare well in the ocean air."

"We lived on an island for a century and you seemed fine in that ocean air," Ragnor argued.

"Look, Ragnor, we seem to have set up camp in Alec's hometown, and I can't stay." Magnus confessed, feeling shameful and weak.

Ragnor raised an eyebrow. "You're going to let some human kick you out of your home?"

"That's not it," Magnus defended himself. "I can live wherever I choose, and I choose to live somewhere far away from him."

Ragnor paused with a dramatic sigh. "Fine," He relented. "But it will take me a few days to pack."

Magnus didn't dare push his luck.


	13. Chapter 13

Rain clouds hung heavy in the sky. Alec sat out on the deck of his house-- his and Lydia's-- suspended in the air and letting the strong wind tip him side to side. He thought of Jace, who was out pirating with his girlfriend and doing all of the things they used to do. Alec told himself he didn't miss that life. He almost believed it wasn't ever his in the first place. He still went to the market every other morning with Lydia, and he had picked up a job in a bar, making drinks for the men (and the occasional brazen woman) that had the money to spare on getting wasted. Or they didn't have the money to spare, but that was not Alec's business. His life was filled with routine. Market, work, home, go to sleep immediately to avoid Lydia's hands in the night. Totally normal. Totally.

In no way had Alec's normal schedule been interrupted by seeing Magnus. It wasn't like he tuned out his wife and scanned the crowd of the market day after day for a chance glimpse of the other man. "Oh, Mr. Lightwood," Lydia's melodic voice drifted from inside the house. Alec held his breath and didn't respond, prepared to blame the wind for being too loud to hear her. He heard her call him a few more times by varying nicknames that he guessed were supposed to be playful but just made him cringe. Her voice grew closer, until it was right behind him. "What are you doing out in the rain?" She practically shrieked, yanking him inside by the back of his shirt. She was strong despite her fragile look.

Alec wanted to argue that it hadn't started raining _yet,_ but he just bit his tongue and smiled, "Just needed fresh air."

"There's nothing fresh out _there,"_ Lydia sneered, disgust on her face when talking about the town. "I'm telling you, we should move to the countryside, where there's not so many people." Alec didn't comment. Lydia moved closer and slid her hand over his chest. It wasn't cold, but he shivered anyway. "What do you think, Alec? You and I, no one to bother us, clean air. It would be perfect for a family."

Alec frowned. "My family has always lived in the city," He argued. "We've managed to be fine."

Lydia paused, clearly not expecting an argument from Alec. "That's not what I meant." She said. She tried once more to go for the seduction angle, wrapping her arms around Alec's neck and pressing against him tightly. Her breath felt hot on Alec's lips, and he had to stop himself from yanking away as she kissed him. Without talking more, she started walking them toward their bed. Alec tried to squeeze his eyes shut and let his mind drift off, as usual. But Lydia giggled against his lips, and that broke his concentration. He pulled away with a sigh. "What is it?" Lydia asked quietly.

"I just..." Alec let his voice trail off, shuffling through excuses in his brain.

Lydia tensed and stepped back. "Let me guess," She sighs, voice a sharp hiss of air. "You have a headache. Or, you're just tired. You don't feel like it. It's okay, Alec, just say you don't want to have sex with your wife for some unknown reason, there's no need to lie." 

Her eyes were an icy blast of anger. If Alec hadn't been raised better, he would have told her to shut up and stop being such a bitch. Alec didn't call her a bitch, saying instead, "Don't be like that."

"Don't be like what?" Lydia snapped. "Your wife, who you have been married to for almost two years? The girl who is paying to keep your brother alive? What should I not be like, Alec?"

"My brother should have nothing to do with this." Alec replied, letting his voice grow as cold as the look she was trying to give him. "Are you trying to guilt me into sex?"

"I'm trying," Lydia began. "To have a normal marriage with my husband. We took vows, remember? True love and all that?"

Alec stiffened. "I don't know what you think," He spit. "But this is not what true love is."

Lydia fell silent. There were no tears in her eye, nothing to betray the power held in the jut of her chin. "Excuse me?" She asked, voice falling to a whisper.

"Lydia, neither of us are stupid." Alec said. "You married me for my name, and I married you to keep my brother alive." He shook his head, thinking of the glazed look in Magnus's eye when they saw each other the other day. The way he seemed to look right through Alec. "We can keep up this little image. But not tonight." He picked up her hands by the wrists and moved her arms away from him. "I need air."

Walking no more than ten steps away, she called, "It's going to storm."

Alec left the house.

The town was dark. Very few buildings had electricity at that time, so gas lamps lit the streets, flickering as Alec kicked up dirt with his heavy boots. He took a deep breath. The town didn't smell bad to him. It smelled like _home._ There was the salty air of the ocean, which Alec knew made some travelers feel seasick even on solid ground, but it was home. How could Lydia ever want to leave?

Turning down street after street, Alec observed the worn-down stone of the buildings around him, the material seeming newer the taller the building became. Up and up, the world was moving up. Alec pictured the buildings going so far into the sky that people could just walk the rooftops across the oceans, and there would be no more ships to sail. He had his head tilted back to look at the darkening sky, and he didn't even see the woman rounding the corner impossibly fast until they had collided. 

Air escaped their lungs in a unified, _"oof,"_ both parties blinking at each other. Alec had never seen the woman in his town before, so probably she was just a traveler staying for the night while the storm passes. "Apologies," Alec breathed as he clambered to his feet. "Had my head in the clouds, I suppose." He moved forward to help up the woman before dusting himself off. Then Alec noticed that she had been carrying bags, and her items were splayed everywhere. "Let me help you," He offered, bending for the first lost handful of fruit. He wondered what vendor was selling that late at night. 

As soon as Alec's hand touched the groceries, the previously catatonic woman sprang into action. "No," She gasped, smacking his hand away. "It is fine, _no hablo Ingles, lo siento."_

Alec's ears perked at the foreign language, and he guessed the tongue to be Spanish. He had only ever studied French and Latin during his time in school, so he was at a loss. "Really, I can help," He tried again, reaching for more of the fallen items, but again the woman shrieked out a no, and he backed up. Words were rolling off her tongue rapidly, and Alec felt under attack. He picked up nothing of what she was saying, but he guessed from her body language that _"Yo no necesito ayuda. Te odio, si quieres saber."_ Did not mean thank you handsome stranger, but sadly I cannot accept your help, but rather something more menacing. The woman bustled away, a lonely apple rolling around in the dirt, forgotten.

Watching her go around the corner, Alec stooped to pick the fruit up, dusting it off and relishing in the crunch of the food. He didn't realize that there were any foreign visitors to his hometown. There were plenty of travelers from neighboring cities, but English dominated those streets. He'd have to ask Izzy to teach him how to say, "Sorry, I only wanted to help you," In case he ever saw that woman again. She had always been interested in languages, and Alec was sure she knew quite a bit of everything. 

Pride made his step lighter as Alec thought about his sister, and by the time he walked a few more blocks, the details of the event flew from his mind with the core of the apple that he tossed away.

The strange Spanish woman, however, did not forget so easily. She bustled down the street and as she jostled along, pieces of herself fell away. First it was her hair, chunks decorating the street in brown ribbons. Then her breasts started to sag, before melting away. "Shit," She muttered under her breath because Spanish was not actually her first and only language. Her voice came out lower-pitched than it had been when she had bumped into Alec. Eventually, the rest of her skin was falling off too, like a snake shedding.

Magnus stopped trying to hold onto the costume, he was too flustered. 

With a snap of his fingers, the mess was cleared away and he resumed his walk home with the groceries that Ragnor had requested him to by for their journey to a new home, one that hopefully had no traces of Alexander Lightwood in it. Magnus had avoided going out since that first run in with Alec, but Ragnor truly was a snail-paced packer and the days passed and they were still in the same place. "You can just use your magic to get groceries!" Magnus had argued when Ragnor first asked him to go out.

"They don't taste as fresh when I do that," Ragnor had shot back.

"Go out yourself!" Magnus yelled.

Ragnor shot him a look. "I would, but I'm packing."

So Magnus had to go out. But he wasn't chancing it. Even though it was late and the sun had well since set, he used his own magic to change his appearance, going so far as to appear as a woman to completely avoid any chance of Alec recognizing him. It had worked, but that didn't make Magnus's heart beat any calmer. He burst into the shop and dumped the vegetables and bruised fruits on the desk where Ragnor sat, half asleep and very involved in not packing. 

"I bumped into him," Magnus growled. "Mind you, I had every part that the boy hates, but still. I touched him."

"Why don't you go tell your diary," Ragnor mumbled as he reached absently for some of the food. 

"Ragnor," Magnus whined, dropping the angry act. "How long until you're packed?"

"I'm going as fast as I can," Ragnor waved him away, though there were still many empty bags waiting to be filled with Ragnor's endless piles of clothes. 

"Listen," Magnus sighed. "I never want to be a woman again. I don't know how they were those cute dresses, but dear God, breathing freely is miraculous."

"That's how the daughter Lightwood speaks," Ragnor notes.

"Excuse me?"

"Alexander's sister, she gives speeches about why woman should dress more comfortably." Ragnor smiled. There was more to it than that, but it didn't pertain specifically to Ragnor so he hadn't listened to the whole message.

Magnus pushed on, ignoring his friend's little note about the Lightwoods. "I panicked, I wanted to get away so I pretended I couldn't speak English. I started babbling in Spanish-- we haven't been to Spain in years! I hear they're all about colonizing now, so who knows how the language has evolved. Luckily, he didn't speak it so I got away. It was a close call."

Ragnor looked at him knowingly. "You could _confront_ him,"

"Absolutely not," Magnus said, shutting down the conversation. "I got you your fruit, now pack."

"I'm missing an apple," Ragnor called as Magnus stomped away.

Over the course of the next few weeks, Alec seemed to bump into more people that he had never seen before. His town couldn't have been all that popular, and there hadn't been storms for days. Maybe he hadn't been paying attention, but he had spent a lot of time out of his house recently so he was seeing more of the population.

"I'm not teaching you Spanish," Izzy shook her head at Alec. He was passing time in his home-- his true home, telling his sister about what had happened a few nights ago. "You'd be a horrible student."

"I would be an amazing student!" Alec argued, a chuckle in his voice. Izzy grinned back, but forced herself to be serious.

_"No,"_ She repeated. "That's Spanish for _'no.'"_

Alec laughed in earnest, he always laughed louder around his siblings. Then they heard a cough from upstairs, young and dusty, and the room grew quiet. Max had been pushing it too much, playing for too long, and he hadn't been able to get out of bed for the past few days. He had the doctors puzzled. "If I had the money..." Alec began, but never finished. Of course marrying Lydia helped Max more than the Lightwoods could have ever hoped for, but it was always about more more _more_ money. Alec thought about the day he had come home from the Abandoned Island.

His pocket felt heavy, and he heard the faint jingle of coins when someone rushed to hug him. Once he was alone, he had extracted a small sack of gold, filled to the rim really and seemingly bottomless; whenever Alec removed a piece, a new one appeared to replace it. He knew it was magic, and he knew exactly where it had come from.

But he couldn't bring himself to use Magnus's treasure, even after all the trouble he went through because every time he so much as glanced at the sack of gold his heart felt like it was going to fall out of his chest. So he stowed it away, which made him feel guilty as well because he knew he should have immediately used it for Max. He was caught in the middle, but he was used to that feeling.

Part of Alec longed to return to pirating with his brother. Life had been good for them before the Abandoned Island, surly it could return to how it was before that big storm. Alec could plunder and gain riches with his brother, and they could send more home, and Max would keep getting better. Until he got worse. They weren't really buying medicine, just buying time. 

Another cough above them.

Alec couldn't leave the town, not ever, not until his little brother was cured. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here's what the spanish said 
> 
> 1: "I don't speak English, I'm sorry."
> 
> 2: "I don't need help. I hate you, in case you wanted to know."
> 
> sorry if it's terrible


	14. Chapter 14

The world awoke in flames. 

At least, that's what it seemed like to Alexander and Isabelle Lightwood, who had fallen asleep on either side of their youngest brother as he lay sick in bed. 

There was a loud crash and screams from outside, and all three shot up in bed, though Max fell quickly back after just a second. "Mother," Alec called out, and she appeared in the door, hair a messy knot on her head and face pale to match her wide eyes. 

"We need to hide," She whisper-yelled.

"What's going on?" Alec asked.

"Don't let Max look outside," She ordered, and shut the door tightly behind her, moving to block it with the heavy chest of untouched toys. "Mama?" Max called from below, voice cracking. 

"Shh, honey, we're all just having bad dreams. But we can go back to sleep now, right guys?" 

She looked to her children for help, and they both nodded eagerly, scared by their mother's fear. As the dust settled, Alec realized that the world was not on fire and there had been no screams outside, just the stomps and exclamations of his mother amplified in his dreams, twisted into nightmares. 

"Mother, what's going on?" He whispered in the darkness of the room, moving to give her space to sit on the mattress.

"Is Max asleep again?" She asked. Alec checked and found the little boy to be snoring gently. He nodded. "It's your father." 

Both Alec and Izzy tensed in their spots. Their father hadn't been home in months, years, and when he used to stay at the house there was always a lot of yelling and a lot of tears. "What's he doing here?" Alec asked, voice a low growl. When his mother didn't answer, Alec sighed and pushed himself off the bed. 

"Alec no," Izzy tried to stop him, though her voice was soft and weak, not able to face her father once more. Alec didn't stop. Instead, he scooted the chest of toys out of the way and cracked open the door; light poured into the room like a blinding ray of sunlight. Creeping as lightly as he could, a difficult task given the creek of the floorboards, Alec found his father in the kitchen, leaning on the table, face rested in the palms of his hands. "Robert," Alec announced, making sure to straighten his back and stick out his chin.

Robert Lightwood snapped to attention. He was everything Alec didn't want to be; cold, distant, cheating, and bald. Seriously, the hairline worried Alec. But he turned his attention away from his father's shining head to his dry eyes and hard line of a mouth. "Alexander," Robert breathed out, like he was seeing a ghost. 

"What are you doing here?" Alec asked, crossing his arms over his chest and squaring his shoulders. Putting up wall after wall. "You scared us half to death."

With this, Robert released a mighty sigh. "I only wanted to see Maxwell."

Alec frowned. "He goes by Max, now." He informed his dad. "If you stuck around at all, you would know this."

"I thought you and Johnathan would have outgrown that silly name game." Robert grimaced, shaking his head. "I didn't name you _Alec,_ or else that is what I'd call you."

"I don't want to be called any name by you," Alec spit, narrowing his eyes.

To give him credit, Robert did seem hurt by these words. "All of this because I've been away on business?" He countered. "Supporting this family and keeping your brother alive, I should add."

Alec felt a fire rise from the pit of stomach to his throat, burning words on his tongue and threatening to explode out. He took a breath before deciding on, "It might be best if you just go ahead and leave."

Raising an eyebrow, Robert leaned back in his chair, eyeing his son. "What makes you think you can speak to me like this?"

"My cowering family hiding away together." Alec told him firmly. "They don't want you here."

"Is that so," Robert said, not at all like a question. He was observing the facts. "Or is that what your mother has made you believe you need to feel?"

"You can't manipulate us." Alec said, voice raising in volume. "The 'business' that you speak of that's keeping you away from home? It is just you going out to every nearby town and getting with any woman that will let you into her. You're nothing but a lying, cheating, disgusting man, abandoning his children when they need him the most."

Father and son stared each other down, neither willing to be the first to give in. A cry broke from upstairs, capturing the attention of both men. Tiny feet pounded on the ceiling, followed closely by sturdier steps. The tiny feet are scooped up and carried away, heavy feet belong to Izzy, probably. To distract Robert from the other people obviously in the small house, Alec asked, "What did you do to upset Mother so badly?" And he clenched his jaw and fists for added effect.

"I tried explaining to her some of the things I've learned while away on business." Robert sighed, taking a seat on one of the taller chairs. "I've never been good with words."

Alec knew not to press him. Explanations weren't good when rushed. Eventually, it all gushed out of Robert. "There are whispers," He began, voice falling to match the level he spoke of. "Whispers of men that can do powerful things with just their minds.  _Magic._   _Warlocks._ It is unholy, what the monsters can do. But."

Alec raised an eyebrow at the  _but._ An image of magic swirling over Magnus as he lay wounded on the sofa somewhere in the middle of nowhere surfaced from the pond of foggy memories in his head, but Alec pushed it back down. Robert continued on at his own pace.

"Some of the other men that I've met have told me that it is possible to have to warlocks do things for you. For a price of course, as always."

  
"What kind of things?"

Robert stared hard at the wood of the floor before finding his son's eyes again. "Make wishes come true. Heal the broken bone, find company for the broken heart. Heal the fatally ill." 

Easily grasping the implications, Alec's heart skipped. He considered the man before him and then carefully said, "I'm listening."

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

He was no fool. Finding Magnus Bane was not going to be an easy task, especially when the man did not want to be found by Alec. He tried asking by name, but his neighbors simply told him that it was unfamiliar and quite strange. Alec took to the streets, scanning every corner and dusty, dirty building he was allowed access to. For all he knew, Magnus was well gone. But he couldn't give up, not until every option had run its course.

Robert had used the word _whispers_ to describe the rumors heard on the streets of the town. Alec turned his ears to what he would usually try his hardest to tune out. It was the nagging voices belonging to both males and females that gnawed away at sanity with gossip after gossip. He kept hearing things about a store that seemed to be quite magical, an adjective not thrown around lightly in those times. "It's closing, I hear," One man said as he spit onto the street. Alec grimaced around it, but needed details. 

"Where is this shop?" He asked, the man surprised at the sudden interjection.

Taking off in a run, Alec followed the man's vague directions. _Left, left, right, left._ Alec couldn't see anything. Actually, he could, but he couldn't keep himself focused on what he was seeing. It was a regular shop building, the familiar name Fell ringing bells as it usually did. Alec blinked. The memory was gone. Opening his eyes again, the process started over. Every time he looked away from the store, even if only for a second, he forgot about its existence. 

Then Alec saw him. Just through the window. And he saw Alec, and then he was outside, running.

"Magnus!" Alec called through the crowd. There was nothing fancy about his movements; where he had been carefully taut and refined, he had scrambled into a mess of sweat and clumsy feet. "Magnus Bane!" Alec repeated, taking off after him, fearful that he may disappear forever. The rest of the market turned to watch the sprinting figures as they went, eventually crashing into an alley that was unoccupied. "Damn," Alec heard Magnus exclaim. He probably wasn't expecting the dead end, and Alec wasn't expecting his sudden stop, so the two crashed into each other. A few of the curious onlookers peaked their heads around the walls at the beginning of the alley, but the lack of blood and bones bored them and eventually they cleared away, leaving just the two men.

Dust settled. Magnus busied himself with clearing the fine powder of it off of his shining suit piece, forcing himself to keep his eyes focused on the task to avoid any contact with Alec. Who, however, was very ready to tackle Magnus again if necessary. When it was evident that Magnus was not going to try to run once more, Alec took a deep, shuddering breath. "Magnus," He whispered, the name a secret his tongue had just been waiting to burst out. "I need your help."     


	15. Chapter 15

Alec's house was cold. It radiated from the kitchen, where his father sat in silence constructed by resentment from everyone around him. Max was cold, shivering and teeth chattering even though he was dripping with sweat. Gently, Alec woke him. "Hi, buddy." He smiled kindly, hoped the young boy could focus past his fever. "I brought someone to look at you.

In the doorway, Magnus stood with his arms crossed over his chest, staring at his feet. He felt that if he looked at the scene before him, Alec being the loving brother to the ill boy in the bed, then he would forget the past two years of hate that had dominated him.

_"My brother is sick," Alec admitted in the alleyway. "The one I told you about... before. He's very likely going to die."_

_"And what do you want me to do about that?" Magnus spit._

A weak voice from the bed croaked, "A doctor?"

Alec replied, "Yes. And a friend." He tossed a look over his shoulder to Magnus, who barely caught it over his interest in the floor. "He's the very best doctor in the world," Alec resumed, turning back to his brother.

"Izzy's told me that before," Max groaned.

Alec's voice was turning wobbly. "Izzy can be silly sometimes, but I'm a brave pirate. Would a brave pirate lie to you?" He asked. Max considered the question gravely.

_"Yes, I could heal him," Magnus shrugged. "But you'd never be able to pay my fees."_

_"Magnus--" Alec nearly sobbed. "I have the treasure-- that you gave me. I never used it. If you do this for me, I will return it to you and be forever in your debt."_

_Magnus tilted his head to the side, considering._

From the door, Magnus sprung into action. "What's your name, little man?"

"Max."

"Well, Max. Your brother is right. I can heal you so fast it'll be like you were never even sick at all."

Max answered him with a cough.

"Can you really do this?" Alec asked Magnus, voice a nearly inaudible whisper.

"Please," Magnus smiled, though he couldn't quite meet Alec's eye. "I'm the Greatest Warlock in the World."

_"You're the Greatest Warlock in the World," Alec pressed on. "That's what you told me. Is that true?"_

_Magnus scoffed at the attempt to get a rise from him._

_"Fine." Alec looked half-defeated. He had had such high hopes for the encounter, and everything was falling apart before him. "Don't do it for me. Do it for Max, an innocent, eleven-year-old boy that has never had the pleasure of being eleven-years-old. A boy that has never felt the scrape of his knee on the stones outside from playing too rough, a boy that has only lived as half-alive. A dying child."_

Laying under the covers of the bed, Max didn't seem to be eleven-years-old. Magnus thought he looked more like he was six, small and frail. His sweating cheeks were sunken, and dark circles under his eyes betrayed how much sleep he actually got. "I'm going to do my work," he began saying. "It might tickle and sting a little, but I promise I won't hurt you. Is that okay?"

But Max was too feverish to answer. Instead, a mess of coughs wracked his body, and Magnus could only watch in horror until they passed. He let himself glance at Alec, who was sitting at the foot of the bed, eyes shining and staring intensely at the young boy.

_"You're lying," Magnus hissed, beginning to shoulder past Alec._

_"Magnus!" Alec exclaimed. His voice was a broken string of sounds that were bladed and pierced through Magnus's heart. "Please."_

"I'm going to begin now," Magnus said, more toward Alec than Max. He struggled at first; healing had never been magic that he practiced with a lot, that was Catarina's specialty. The boy wiggled beneath the blue shimmer and whimpered slightly. Feeling Alec tense Magnus told him, "It's alright, I'm not hurting him."

"Alec," Max whispered, extending his hand. Alec swooped in to grab it, and gripped it until the tips of his fingers whitened. Being connected with his brother, Alec felt residue from Magnus's power. He was reminded sharply of the Abandoned Island and the home he had made with Magnus. That was really what it had been, anyway. Alec shuddered from the memories, but could not easily shove them away as he usually would. Eternity stretched before him, and he could only sit and watch the agonized face of his brother contorting beneath him.

_There was probably four feet of space between the two men. Magnus was stoic, not daring to betray any hint of emotion he was experiencing. He remembered Alec's hands and mouth on him, he remembered the adoration in his gaze, but he also remembered how he left so abruptly and without a glance backward. Unable to abandon the image Alec created in his mind, Magnus sighed. "Fine. I'll help the child. Take me to him."_

_The house was in an uproar when Alec came home. His mother and sister were in the kitchen, barely facing his father. There was silence, and Alec wondered at how much had been explained to the women, if anything. When he showed up with Magnus, his mother shot up from her seat and demanded explanations. Magnus was quick to speak, smoothly dancing around the truth like a performer on a stage. "Hello, Mrs. Lightwood. My name is Magnus Bane, and your husband has hired me to heal your son. Give me an hour in there, and I promise you I will have him healed."_

_His mother's eyes slid past Magnus and to Alec, waiting._

_"It's true," Alec nodded. "He can do what he says."_

_"If you're uncomfortable with me treating him, one of you may be in the room with me." Magnus extended the offer openly, but all eyes still rested on Alec, so there was no question._

"This is the part where it might be a little painful," Magnus said. Alec looked at the man, and his forehead was shining with sweat and his chest was heaving as though he was participating in intense exercise. "Distract him, would you?"

Max choked on a cough. "Bud," Alec began, leaning close to whisper a story into his ear. "Remember the story Jace and I told you? About the maidens on the ship?"

Through the pain, Max nodded, eyes glimmering. "From the sea."

"Yes," Alec smiled. "The maidens from the sea. They had fins like fish and bodies like girls. Did I ever tell you that Jace and I had to fight them?"

"No!" Max exclaimed, wide eyes ready for the new action.

Alec went on to spin his tale about the girls from the ocean and how they nearly drowned Jace and Alec until the whole crew had to join in and fight them all away, back into the depths of the ocean. There were never any girls, never a fight of such a manner, but Max was so enthralled that the words kept pouring from Alec's mouth easily. Lies as sweet as honey.

By the time the story was over, Max's eyes were closed and he was breathing deeply. Alec blinked, finally noticing that Magnus had finished his actions. Though his tongue was dry from talking so much, Alec asked, "You're done?"

"I've done what needed to be done." Magnus stood quickly, though he swayed slightly. Alec rushed to catch him before he could crash to the floor. Magnus felt limp, but his eyes were squeezed shut tightly and he was grimacing, still conscious. "I'm not accustomed to that type of magic, it took a lot out of me."

Alec held him while he caught his breath. "Is he healed now?" He asked quietly.

Magnus told him, "He will sleep for a while, but then he will be healthy." He straightened up, out of Alec's grasp. Alec felt icy where Magnus had been in contact with him.

"Thank you, Magnus," Alec said. He couldn't speak louder than a whisper, but they were so close that Magnus could hear him just fine.

"Thank me with treasure," he shrugged. Alec knew the other man was trying to be distant and cold, but the effect wasn't as domineering as it had once been.

"Magnus, I--" Alec struggled with the words. "I've missed you."

The atmosphere changed slightly. "I was just a game to you," Magnus said. "Just some fuck to pass the time stuck on that damn island."

Alec flinched at the vulgar language, but couldn't control Magnus's words. At least Max was deeply asleep. "Magnus, I-- you really think that?"

"It's the truth," Magnus spit. "Just say it."

"The truth," Alec echoed. "You don't know anything about the truth."

"Oh yeah? Please, enlighten me Oh Great Pirate."

Alec flinched at the words but continued despite. "When I was with you... Magnus, all I know is that I felt more with you on that Island than I have in all my time with Lydia-- in fact, I know now that I feel nothing for her in the way I should."

"But you chose her," Magnus snapped.

"I chose my family. Him," Alec countered, gesturing toward Max. "I have my reasons for what I did."

Magnus was quiet and then whispered, "Your goodbye to me was as ceremonial as throwing away garbage."

"If I had waited, if I had let Jace come far on the island, he would have tried to kill you."

"He wouldn't have succeeded."

"I know," Alec said. "And I couldn't lose my brother. You would have killed him, or else one of your friends."

Magnus rolled his eyes, but Alec was right. "You were repulsed by me, by what _you_ are, and now you come crawling back to this point? Just pay up and let me go."

"Magnus, I was young--"

"It was only two years ago, Alec." Magnus sighed.

"I was afraid." Alec admitted. "I--I loved being with you, it felt good. It felt right. I haven't felt like that since I left. But I had to leave, I stand by that. My brother was dying, and marrying Lydia has given me access to the money I needed to help him."

"You married for the money," Magnus muttered, voice tainted with bitterness and his eyes focused just to the side of Alec's, glazed over.

"Look, Magnus, when I saw my brother coming, there was no time for me to come up with some romantic goodbye." Alec continued. "There were no promises I could make you, no love I could part with you. I hurt you because I had no idea how to handle how I felt."

"You still don't," Magnus spit.

Alec blinked. "Well," He started. "We don't exactly live in a world where us kissing is acceptable! Why do you think I struggle with this? The very idea should never have come into my mind and yet here I am, holding myself back with everything I have so I don't fling myself into your arms and just--" He broke off with an angry groan.

"Alexander--"

"No, Magnus." Alec shook his head. "I've made up my mind. Max is healed. I am leaving this town, leaving Lydia, whether you come with me or not. My family will be fine without me, and I will get to heal myself. I will not force you to be with me, I can't, we both know that. What I did was impossibly insensible, and I know I hurt you. _I hurt you._ It kills me to know that." He paused, licked his dry lips. "My family is fine. From here on out, I choose you, always you, even if you don't choose me."

Magnus was quiet for a few moments. He was searching Alec's eyes for a lie, for some sort of giveaway. But there was nothing but pure desperation. Finally, he spoke. "I'm leaving in a few days. You can bring me my payment tomorrow, at my shop. Yes, you'll remember it when you see it."

Alec kept himself from crying right then, and nodded solemnly. "Very well." He stepped back, dropped Magnus's hand. He didn't even realize that he had grabbed it. "Let's go tell my family the good news."

The scene in the kitchen was relatively unchanged when the two men reappeared. Isabel and her mother moved immediately, rushing toward Magnus for information. Alec noted that his father stayed where he was. "Well?" Isabel asked, trying to appear strong through her trembling lower lip.

"All went well," Magnus told them. Alec had to look away from his still-flushed cheeks, remnants of the drain the event had on the warlock. "Maxwell will sleep for a little while, possibly a whole day. But when he wakes up, he should be better."

"Better?" Alec's mother parroted. "As in, not sick anymore?" Her face was ashen and her mouth agape.

"Yes Ma'am." Magnus twitched, looking around nervously, longingly staring at the door. He felt the warmth radiating from Alec's hand near his, and he consciously took a step to the side, farther away from the other boy.

The two women erupted into cheers a sobs of joy, before catching themselves and lowering their voices, aware of the sleeping child above them. "Thank you, thank you so much, Mr. Bane. How will we pay you?"

Magnus smiled. "Alexander has it all taken care of."

His mother nodded and pulled Alec in for a brief, suffocating hug. She then turned around, looking for her husband, but his chair was then empty. The door was ajar. He had left during the scene. "Bastard," she hissed, feeling idiotic for swooning over the man once again. Before she could let that bitterness wash over her, she turned back to Magnus. "Very well. I thank you so much, Mr. Bane. You're a miracle, I will never forget you. My son will live his life because of you."

Alec watched Magnus's face. It was surprisingly unguarded, and his eyes were shining. "My pleasure," he nodded. "I'll be making my way now."

He excused himself politely and Maryse and Isabel dashed up the stairs to peek on the boy in his bed. Alec walked Magnus to the door. "I'll see you tomorrow, with the treasure." He reminded the warlock with a raised eyebrow and trembling hands. 

Magnus seemed to hesitate at the door.

"I've made up my mind," Alec repeated from earlier. "And I think I know that you've made up yours, as well."

"You don't know what I think," Magnus snapped, but his voice lacked the venom it had earlier.

Rather than get defensive, Alec sighed. "Good point. I don't know what you think about anything. Goodnight, Magnus Bane."

Magnus wanted to reach up and swipe away the tears that had streaked Alec's face. He wanted to lean into the other boy's warmth for the night, the moon high in the sky and the city lulling itself to sleep. He wanted to kiss Alec again-- God, it had been two years since they had shared a kiss. Magnus raised a hand, brushed the hair back from Alec's face. "Goodnight, Alexander Lightwood."

  
   

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i love being a whole asshole and ghosting for a year (lol i hate myself)


	16. Chapter 16

Alec didn't sleep for the rest of that night. He paced the different floors of his house, thinking. At every sound that wasn't made by his own body, he flinched, instinctively reaching for a sword that hadn't been at his side for two years. He knew what he had to do now. Max was better, his mother and sister were safe, Jace was happy. He could finally take care of himself.

He marched his way to where he had hidden Magnus's treasure and stowed it in his pocket, the bag full but seemingly weightless. He didn't hesitate, didn't bother with writing his family a note because he planned on being back before leaving for good. There were a few loose ends that needed tying up. 

With a deep breath, Alec drew on his overcoat and began the walk to Lydia's house.

 

\-------

 

To her credit, Lydia Branwell was a collected woman. Alec had stampeded into her home at a time when the sun had not even begun to rise in the sky, and she merely waited for his words to start trickling like a nervous waterfall. He was rambling, stalling, fidgeting with the hem of his coat and looking anywhere but at her.

"Alexander," she interjected. "Do you think that I am a stupid woman?"

Alec finally snapped his attention to the stoic face of the woman he was supposed to love. "No, of course not."

"Then why are you wasting my time? Just be honest. I know what is coming."

"Y--you do?"

Lydia gave a soft but sad smile. "Yes. You want to leave me. I've known for a while that you do not wish to be my husband."

"You've known?" Alec asked her. "Then why didn't you say anything?"

"I suppose I am a hopeless romantic," Lydia shrugged. It was the first time Alec thought she could be beautiful to him, in the moonlight, barely covered by her night slip, had he not loved Magnus so much. "I fantasized that one day you would wake up and love me with your whole soul, like in the silly novels I secretly enjoy. But you and I are meant for different paths."

She stole the reasoning right out of Alec's mouth. "I am so sorry, Lydia Branwell."

She waved a hand. "Don't be. I know your reasons. I know that if I fought you on this, you would leave anyway. Goodbye, Alexander Lightwood."

It was a bittersweet departure. Alec was grateful that the woman was so understanding, and he prayed that she found a man that could love her with all of his soul. He left her with a hug and a kiss on the forehead, the most intimate action he had ever participated in with her. She pulled away and swiped away an escaping tear. "Go get your treasure, Great Pirate."

The words did shock Alec, but Lydia threw in a playful wink. She had known everything. The woman was smarter that Alec would have ever guessed. He supposed there was a reason she held such a position in society.

So he went on, wracking his memory for some image of what Magnus's shop should look like. He remembered chasing him through the streets and cornering him in an alley, and he remembered walking through town. But the time in between, when he supposedly saw some shop, was forgotten. Retracing his steps, Alec made his way to the alley he had stood in begging for Magnus's help, then he walked back through the streets they had madly dashed through. What he ended up in front of was an odd stone and brick building that both shouted for attention but gave Alec a headache if he stared at it for too long. He wanted to move away from it, but he knew that he had to go inside. Fighting himself, he stepped toward the building.

Once he was through the door, the spell of sorts was broken, and he could focus. "Damn," One voice muttered from somewhere further inside. Then it called, "We're not open yet, come back in the morning!"

"Magnus?" Alec called back, knowing it wasn't the man's voice but hoping nonetheless.

A different man appeared, older, gray-haired and green-skinned. Alec recognized him as one of the other people from the Abandoned Island, though he couldn't remember a name. "You again?" The man asked, eyes cold and arms crossed over his chest. Alec's presence was a challenge to Ragnor, who didn't know anything about what had transpired between him and Magnus only a few hours ago.

"I'm simply here to speak with Magnus. I owe him payment," Alec explained.

Ragnor grimaced and held out his hand. "Magnus won't want to see you. I'll take his money and you can go."

Alec shook his head. "I insist on talking with him. I won't leave until I can."

Something sparked from the other man's fingers, yellow-reddish in color and frightening. "I can happily escort you out."

Alec swallowed his fear. "You can," he began. "But I will simply find my way back here. I am very stubborn."

Ragnor's magic stopped crackling and he dropped the threatening hand. Sighing, he turned. "Very well, I will wake Magnus and he will escort you out."

Alec was prepared to wait, but didn't have to stand for long. Within seconds, Magnus was marching his way into the main room. "Ragnor, it's quite lovely at this time of morning. Why don't you go for a walk," Magnus suggested.

"I'm quite alright here. I think I'll go to bed." Ragnor feigned a yawn.

Magnus turned to his friend. "Ragnor, please."

Huffing, Ragnor crossed his way to the exit, bashing his side against Alec's on the way. "I will be gone for ten minutes. No more."

The other two were silent as Ragnor completed his exit.

Then everything came rising out of Alec. He was a bottle that had been corked for too long, ready to explode. "I came to pay you for what you've helped my family with. But also to speak wit you."

"I thought you'd let me sleep a little longer," Magnus grumbled.

"I'm sorry. I couldn't at all. I figured sooner rather than later--"

"My treasure," Magnus snapped. Like Ragnor, he held out his hand, but there was no sparkling magic there to scare Alec. Gladly, Alec returned the sack of gold to its rightful owner. Magnus began counting the coins, a rather pointless act considering they automatically refilled from his ultimate hiding spot. It was mostly just to rub salt into Alec's wounds. After moments of eternal silence, Magnus spoke. "I thought you were here to talk?"

"Yes," Alec snapped to action. "I plan on leaving town, Magnus. I've spoken with Lydia, and we will no longer be together. I will speak with my family and let them know that I will stay in contact, but that I cannot stay in this place. At least not for now. I want you to come with me, Magnus. I know you won't, but I cannot leave knowing that I did not speak with you about this."

Magnus stopped his coin collecting and looked at the other boy, emotions hard to read. "Alexander--"

"I haven't finished." Alec straightened up, bracing himself for his heart to be ripped to shreds. But he had to get all of his words out. "I'm sorry for leaving you the way I did. I've told you my reasons, and I won't waste your time repeating them and causing you more pain. I miss you, Magnus. I knew you better than I ever knew anyone while on that island, and though it was only a few months, I sometimes think it was an entire lifetime's worth of love. Or, at least, the potential of love."

Magnus waited, making sure Alec was quite finished speaking. Then he said, "What do you expect from me, Alexander?" He didn't sound angry, just tired. And very sad.

"You will not leave with me, this I know. So, Magnus, just one kiss is all I beg of you." Alec felt shame warming his cheeks. Shame, sadness, and guilt all rushing through his veins to the surface. "We will part ways. You will live on. So will I, for a little bit. You will forget me and my kisses, but I will be able to carry it with me for the rest of my life."

Hovering over the counter, Alec saw Magnus's shoulders droop and begin to quiver. He heard the quietest of sniffles, and understood that the warlock was crying. "Damn you, Alexander Lightwood." Magnus muttered. He swiped at his eyes, angrily trying to slap the tears away. Alec moved quickly, grabbing Magnus's wrists and holding them down, though he knew that Magnus could fight him and win, if he wanted. _"God damn you,"_ he repeated.

"Magnus--"

"God damn you, because all I've been able to think about between men and women is _you,_ because you _knew_ things. You had my island, you had me from the moment I stepped foot on your ship. Then you left me. The night after we-- after we were together, right after a demon almost _killed_ me, you left. And I understand your reasons, but damn you for taking two years to find me again."

"I wasn't--"

"And you married _her,"_ Magnus continued, voice a poisonous cacophony. "You gave me reasons for that, too, but I swear I burned my whole island to nothing because of how much of you was left there. And you married _her."_

"Not because I love her, you know that." Alec released his hold on Magnus's wrists and stepped back, not wanting to push the other man over some edge. 

"I know that," Magnus repeated. 

Alec waited for a long time. He waited while Magnus collected himself, while Magnus paced around the room a few times. He waited. Then, Alec stepped toward him, closing the distance between their bodies and rejoicing in the small victory that was Magnus not moving away from him. Surprisingly, he was not the one to initiate the kiss, but when Magnus surged toward him, it was every crash of the wave, every clash of swords, all of the treasure he had claimed, everything. Alec found all of it in Magnus's lips. Alec let himself be walked backward, and his back slammed against the wall. Magnus kissed him hard, teeth pressing against skin and lungs panting for air. "I missed you," Alec whispered. "I missed you."

_"Alexander,"_ Magnus groaned.

"Magnus, I want--" 

Magnus pulled back minutely. He ran his hand down Alec's front, pausing right above the hemline of his pants. "What do you want?"

"I want you. I don't know how to say it. I want you to be the one who-- you know,"

"Say it, Alec," Magnus demanded.

Alec swallowed his pride because he decided that nothing else mattered. "I want you to make love to me, Magnus." 

Magnus sighed, hot breath spreading over Alec's electric skin. "I've missed you," he muttered. Then he stepped away slightly. "I will go with you, Alexander." Alec's heart stuttered and he squeezed his eyes shut, memorizing the moment in case he should ever need to revisit one of the happiest times in his life. Magnus placed a hand on Alec's cheek, thumb stroking over his cheekbone, his lower lip. "Ragnor will be back soon. He might be a little furious with me, though."

"Surely he will forgive you," Alec smiled. 

"He always does," Magnus happily leaned back to the other man, kissing him and holding onto the promise of some sort of future. 

Then there was a loud crash of the front door banging open, cliche shop bell ringing in Ragnor's arrival. Alec jumped, cheeks flushing red, and Magnus laughed warmly at the sight. "Ragnor, shield your eyes!" He yelled out jokingly, but there was no typical smart-ass reply from his friend. Magnus's smile faded when he saw the look in Alec's eyes.  
Slowly turning, he saw none other than Robert Lightwood standing just a few feet away from where he and Alec were still practically entwined. Alec neither let go of Magnus nor moved closer, so Magnus took it upon himself to rearrange their bodies. 

"Hello, Mr. Lightwood," he greeted, trying to push past the fact that Alec's father was staring at them with complete hatred in his eyes.

Robert's gaze drifted slightly above Magnus, to where Alec stood, still frozen. Darkly he asked Alec, "This is how you repay the doctors, son?"

Magnus expected to hear Alec fumble an explanation to his father about what he had seen, desperately trying to cover up the truth. "I... I already paid him. I--" But Alec could not find the right words. So Magnus took over.

"What right do you have to barge into my home? I saved your youngest son from sure death, and Alexander is at fault for nothing."

"You saved my youngest, yes, but by what means?" Robert Lightwood tilted his head to the side, eyes narrowing.

"You are the one who sought him out!" Alec exclaimed. He had taken a stance in front of Magnus, finding some power, one shoulder shielding the other man.

"I've sought out plenty of warlocks. Hired them for petty jobs. Then I killed them all."

Alec felt Magnus tense behind him, felt intense heat radiating from the other man's body. Somehow remaining calm, Magnus told Robert, "I am not like other warlocks you have murdered."

Robert scoffed. "No, I suppose you aren't. You've corrupted my son, my progeny, with your despicable sickness. You've struck a personal chord with me, Mr. Bane."

"You have no claim over me or what I do," Alec snarled. 

Robert leveled him with a gaze that spoke volumes to the amount of distant that had grown between father and son. "You have a wife, Alexander. How would she feel about this... _relationship?"_

Alec swallowed hard, kept himself from cringing. "There's nothing for her to worry about," he informed his father. "I spoke with her before coming here. She knows that I am leaving her."

"Such blasphemy," Robert chided.

"Like father, like son." Alec braced himself for whatever his father would do next. The last thing he expected from the man was for him to begin a full-on charge, a blade drawn in one white-fingered fist. 

Magnus easily knocked him back with his magic, and when Alec looked at him, the yellow cat eyes were blazing. "You are very rude, Robert Lightwood. Barging into my home uninvited, ridiculing your son when really you should be thanking and praising him. I think it is time you left."

But Robert did not leave. Instead, he got back to his feet and smirked. "Alec," he began, and Alec felt cold at hearing his father call him by his forbidden nickname. "If you know what is good for your family-- our family, you will come with me."

"I will not let you kill Magnus," Alec said, though he suspected Magnus would be more than capable of handling the man. 

"If you come with me, then I promise not to harm anyone."

Of course Alec stepped forward. He wanted no trouble, he would do as his father said. It was all Robert needed to grab him, and pull him back. He twisted his son's body into a dangerously tight headlock, dagger pressed against his throat. Magnus automatically jumped to action but Robert called, "Stop!" He pressed hard enough to draw blood from Alec. "If you make one move against me, I will kill him."

Alec gasped against his father's grip, fighting for air. 

Slowly, Magnus let his hands fall to his sides. He needed Ragnor to come home, now. 

For a moment, Alec thought. He knew how to fight, and he knew how to fight well. His father had simply caught him off guard. Collecting his breath as his father awkwardly shuffled them both backward toward the exit, Alec contorted his body to escape his father's deadly hold. Robert grunted with surprise but managed to right himself, falling to the floor wrestling his son. They fought to pin each other, Magnus hesitating to interfere with magic for fear that he might accidentally injure Alec. 

Robert yelled and tossed Alec aside, slashing him with the dagger. Alec's upper arm screamed in pain, but he continued fighting anyway. He was faster than his father, more muscular, and he was younger. He leaped and managed to twist the knife out of his father's hands and into his own. His father charged out of a burst of anger, and Alec reacted reflexively. The blade sunk easily through his father's clothes and skin, piercing through his heart and rendering him immobile. Lifeless.

Gasping, Alec released his grip on the dagger's hilt. His father's lips trembled, bloody. His legs gave out and he crashed to the floor, blood soaking everything. Alec couldn't look at what he had done. His hands were shaking and he felt like he was going to throw up. He had killed a lot of people in his life, but that was his  _father._

_He was ready to kill me,_ Alec thinks, but the rationalization brings him no comfort. Quickly, he turned away to vomit. The doorbell chimed. Ragnor stepped in, covering his eyes with one hand and comically peaking through the cracks of his fingers. Then he saw the blood, Alec doubled over as he heaved, Magnus backed into a corner with a pale face, and finally the body.

"Ten minutes," Ragnor whispered, letting the shock run its course through his system. "I was gone for  _ten minutes."_

Magnus cleared his throat. "Well, a lot can happen in ten minutes."    


	17. Chapter 17

Ragnor had lived for a very long time, longer than Magnus. For the most part, he spent his time quietly; romancing women, casting the occasional spell, staying out of trouble. When he met Magnus, the man had been quickly shoved into adulthood by a series of childhood traumas that were not uncommon in the warlocks' world, but still troubled Ragnor deeply. He himself had never dealt with a mother killing herself over the circumstances of his birth, like Magnus had. For the most part, Ragnor lived a normal immortal life.

Magnus swept into everyone's life with a flair of adventure and waves of emotions. He took on mortal lovers that impassioned him and captivated him, and seduced fellow immortals only to create animosity over who-said-what. It was safe to say that life with Magnus was not a boring one.

But Alexander Lightwood was someone that neither Ragnor nor Magnus would have ever imagined encountering. And the boy stood over the dead, cooling body of his father, hands bloody, face pale. "Help," he whispered quietly. Neither warlock moved, so Alec repeated himself louder. Then he whirled to Magnus screaming, "Do something! I-- I didn't mean to stab him. Magnus, heal him!"

Warlocks could do practically anything. They could mend broken bones, travel anywhere in the world with a snap of their fingers, they could even make people fall in love for the right price. But the one thing that all warlocks agreed not to do was bring people back from the dead. It was impossible, on top of immoral. No warlock had the abilities to truly reanimate a body-- that magic required someone or some _thing_ a lot stronger. "I can't do anything, Alexander." Magnus said sadly. 

But Alec didn't hear him. Instead, he fell to his knees and began sobbing. He killed his father, and that made him feel sick, but what really hit him was that he didn't feel truly remorseful. That only made him feel more guilty.

Magnus knelt next to him on the ground. "He was going to try and kill you or I," he reasoned. "You were only protecting yourself. And me."

Alec's face was hidden in his hands, and Magnus had to shift his position to be able to move them by the wrist to see his face, to get Alec to look at him. Alec's eyes were wild. He was trying to figure out how he was going to tell his family. Feeling pity, Ragnor offered, "I could deliver the news, If you'd like me to."

"No," Alec shook his head, though it was tempting. "I have to face them. I'll be leaving anyway, so it's the least I can do." He felt Magnus's hand on his shoulder.

"Do you want me to go with you?"

Alec stood, looking for a bathroom to clean the blood from his hands. As he went he called, "I'll go by myself. I can meet you after."

"Where?" Magnus asked, following with only a few steps. He paused under the archway to the washroom, watching Alec's shoulders as they vigorously moved with the scrubbing of his hands. The water in the basin slowly turned darker. Magnus thought that Alec was going to rub his skin off entirely, so he walked over to the man and stopped his hands from moving altogether. "Here," he said, and used magic to clean up the mess on Alec's hands and clothes.

Alec sighed, and dropped his head onto Magnus's shoulder. "Thank you," he whispered, breath ghosting on Magnus's skin. Magnus held him while the other boy simply breathed. Finally, Alec muttered, "I'll ride out tonight. If you want to, you can meet me in the next town due North-- there's only one tavern there, I won't be hard to find."

"Are you sure this is what you want?" Magnus asked gently.

Alec grabbed Magnus's hands to hold in his own. "It's what I need," he admitted. "It is what everyone needs.

 

\-------------

 

In Alec's absence, the small shop was impossibly quiet. Between Magnus and Ragnor, neither knew where to begin. They decided with cleaning up the mess. Alec had told them that he knew that his mother did not have plans to bury his father in the same grave plots, so the funeral was already taken care of in itself. Alec stood solemnly while Magnus conjured a casket, wooden and quick to decay, and used more magic to put is father in the ground. They had been in a field somewhere. The grave was deep and unmarked.

After standing in front of the spot that was indistinguishable from the rest of the land, Alec turned his back and went back into town, toward his home.

Magnus returned to the shop to help Ragnor sort out the rest of the mess. 

After an hour of cleaning and reorganizing and packing, Ragnor finally spoke. "Do you love him?"

"After all of this," Magnus began. "Do you, my best friend, really need to ask that?"

Ragnor simply sighed. "Just be careful, Magnus Bane."

Deciding that it would be nice to give himself time to clear his mind, Magnus rode on horseback to the next city North, finding the first tavern he could and using his magic to make the small room more comfortable while he waited for Alec. He had no way of knowing whether the boy was going to follow through with his plans or be talked out of it by the rest of his family, but he faithfully waited on the straw mattress, shivering despite all of the magic. 

While he waited, Magnus fell asleep. He wanted to remain alert and ready for the moment that Alec appeared, but eventually his mind became too engrossed by _what ifs_ that he dozed. What if he had the wrong town? What if Alec wasn't coming? What if something was wrong?

He was jostled out of the turbulent sleep by weight settling next to him. He bolted upright, blinking against the flickering candlelight only for his eyes to focus on Alec's tired, apologetic face. "I didn't mean to wake you," He began, half-covered by Magnus's blankets. 

"Alexander," Magnus leaned down and kissed him, not knowing where to start with his questions. When he leaned away he asked, "Do you want to talk?"

Despite saying otherwise, Alec seemed infinitely relieved to relay everything. He told Magnus about the encounter with his mother and sister. They cried, but they were not angry at him. They cried harder when he mentioned that he wanted to travel for a little bit, not on the seas but rather around different towns and regions. But they did not try to change his mind. "If this is what you think is best," Isabel had said. "Then you need to do it."

Alec had promised he would visit, but couldn't say when.

He fell asleep talking, and Magnus held him through the rest of the quiet night.

The morning brought with it confusion, followed by dawning, and summarized by a lot of kissing. Magnus woke up to Alec's lips on his own, and his hands flew to the other boy's face, holding him in place as their mouths worked. "Alexander," Magnus groaned, unable to keep his hips from stirring and his hands from traveling lower on Alec's body. 

"I've missed this," Alec confessed, hands dipping down, searching. "I've missed _you."_ He twisted around, letting Magnus roll on top of him and reunite their bodies in the way he had been craving for almost three years.

After, when the sun was filtering in through the dusty inn window and Alec was tracing patterns over Magnus's bare chest, body a liquefied state of laxness, he said, "You will live forever, won't you." It wasn't a question.

"Yes."

"Can I ask you for just one favor?"

"Anything, Alexander." Magnus stared at him, patient. He had lovers ask for immortality of their own, or for Magnus to never love anyone ever again, all impossible things that were out of the command of his power. He was beginning to question just how powerful he really was, and if he had the strength to handle whatever request Alec had.

When Alec spoke, his voice was quiet enough to be snatched away by the wind, and Magnus had to lean close to hear him say, "Don't forget about me."

Magnus had never been asked of that before. 

"It's silly," Alec went on. "But even when you fall in love again, remember me. At least afterward. I don't want to keep you unhappy, and I know that you will find another person to be with after I am gone. But please tell me this is more than just something that will fade away into obscurity when I am dead."

"Alexander." Magnus swallowed, tried to wet his mouth that had gone dry. "I am never going to forget about you. No matter who comes next, or if they ever do. I'm not thinking about that right now, because you're alive, and you are all I want."

Alec frowned. "I'm going to get old."

"Yes, humans do tend to do that." Magnus tried to smile, but felt tears bunching up in his eyes. He could see that Alec didn't like the response. "Look, Alexander, all of my friends tease me about my involvement with humans. They warn me about the difference between our lifespans. But I can't help feeling the way I do for you, or for anyone else. But there are years to come. Let's just enjoy them while they are here."

"You're right," Alec smiled. He kissed Magnus, and kissed him every night for the next seventy years. 

Some days were easier than others. They spent their years together traveling, visiting Alec's family at odd intervals, taking what memories they could for the road. Alec attended Max's wedding, and openly cried during the vows. Magnus had stood in the very back of the church, knowing that Alec was crying from happiness rather than pain. Those were the happy moments. There were sad times, like when Alec's mother passed away and the funeral was a three-day process, the siblings having to come together to overcome the grief. Things were hard for Magnus sometimes, too. But the two always fell together.

Alexander Lightwood was seventy-five years old when he died, much, much older than most people in this time. He had been sick for a long time, and they eventually settled down in a town close to the sea. Magnus still looked as young as he did the day they had met, and Alec didn't envy him for it necessarily, but he did feel guilty. "I love you," he promised Magnus. "I will forever."

Magnus kissed the man he loved right before he passed away. 

He spent years after dealing with the pang in his heart that came with waking up every morning without Alec. For the first fifty years, he constantly had to remind himself that the boy was dead. Magnus lived for eternity, watching the world transform around him with the boom of industry and the rise of technology, but nothing ever felt the same. He never loved with as much passion and the days seemed more dull. 

In his youth, it had been hard for Magnus to concentrate on one person, place, or thing for too long at a time. He would constantly jump to the next big thing, the prettiest people. He was an extravagant youth. In his life, he had taken many lovers. Male or female, he didn't have a preference. Most of the people he slept with were merely people to sleep with. Very rarely did Magnus Bane let himself fall in love. When he did find himself in love, he stayed loyally with the person until their death. It seemed as though his heart was a never-ending fountain of love just waiting to pour out and drown everyone around him.

But sometimes, there were ghosts.

Magnus would see a lover walking along the street fifty years after their death, only to realize that it was simply a trick of his mind, not the real thing. These sightings would hurt him so much that he'd isolate himself in his home for however long it took before he could convince himself of the truth. 

Alexander Lightwood was a ghost that was hard to shake. 

Magnus had a very long life to live, full of plenty of opportunities, but he firmly believed that Alec had been the love of his life. No matter how many years he had left on Earth, Magnus would never find someone to replace Alec, try as he might. And he'd see Alec everywhere; if he went to the market, Alec would be bartering or selling, if he woke up in the middle of the night from a bad dram, Alec would be kissing him gently on the shoulder, whispering him back to sleep. But it was at the point that Alec had been dead for almost two-hundred years. Usually the ghosts were gone at that point. 

Maybe it was because Magnus constantly visited his grave, despite the wear that nature was having on the humble spot. Alec had been situated right next to his mother, the lead of the line that was eventually Jace, then Isabel, then Max. The head of the family, just as he had been in life. The years had weathered the marble and tried to erase the spot from history but Magnus never forgot. He went daily at first, which slowly became yearly. He would love Alec until the day he died, which was unpredictable for a warlock.

Seeing the ghost of Alec had become so much of a regular occurrence to Magnus that he had begun to speak to the ghost. It wouldn't speak back, but the act was comforting to Magnus's aching heart. It was ritualistic, really.

One day came when Magnus saw Alec's ghost. Dressed as he would be to match the year, 2018, like he had never died at all. These ghosts were the ones that hurt the most, the ones that reminded Magnus most bitterly about what he had lost. He smiled ruefully and said, "Hello, Alexander."

Then the ghost did something it had never done before. It looked directly at Magnus and frowned, eyebrows a furrowed crease of confusion on a perfect face. Then the ghost asked, "Do I know you?" 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading! i'll be writing more on this story very soon.....

**Author's Note:**

> first chapters are always the hardest for me to write, because i can never seem to decide on a good end point. But, it got the ball rolling, and that's all that matters.


End file.
